There is a well-established debate between Heckman sample selection and two-part models in health econometrics, particularly when no obvious exclusion restrictions are available. Most of this debate has focussed on the application of these models to health care expenditure. This paper revisits...

This paper analyses decisions regarding smoking and drinking for a sample of Irish women. Double-hurdle models are estimated to determine whether decisions to smoke/drink are made independently of how much to smoke/drink. Given the potential complementarities between smoking and drinking a model...

There is a well-established debate between Heckman sample selection and two-part models in health econometrics, particularly when no obvious exclusion restrictions are available. Most of this debate has focussed on the application of these models to health care expenditure. This paper revisits...

There is a well-established debate between Heckman sample selection and two-part models in health econometrics, particularly when no obvious exclusion restrictions are available. Most of this debate has focussed on the application of these models to health care expenditure. This paper revisits...

This paper analyses decisions regarding smoking and drinking for a sample of Irish women. Double-hurdle models are estimated to determine whether decisions to smoke/drink are made independently of how much to smoke/drink. Given the potential complementarities between smoking and drinking a model...

Using the nationally representative Slan dataset we calculate concentration indices for the incidence of obesity for men and women. We finder higher concentration indices for women than for men, but we also find that concentration indices fell between 2002 and 2007. However this appears to be...

This paper reviews developments in income and health poverty in Ireland over the 2003-2011 period using data from the Survey of Income and Living Conditions (SILC). It also examines developments in the correlation between the two. Income poverty fell up to and including 2009, after which this...

This paper reviews Irish evidence on the link between socioeconomic factors and various measures of mental stress and well-being. The paper reviews both cross-section and time-series studies and finds that of all socioeconomic determinants, the most consistent role is found for unemployment. In...

This paper reviews the extent to which policy interventions can affect risky behaviours such as smoking, drinking and diet. The justification for such intervention is typically a market failure, broadly defined. The types of market failure typically encountered are discussed. First and second...

The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) is frequently used as a measure of mental well-being with those people with values below a certain threshold regarded as suffering from mental stress. Comparison of mental stress levels across population may then be sensitive to the chosen threshold. This...