The health benefits of spas have been hypothesized for centuries. If this hypothesis is correct, spa therapy offers a low cost alternative to more expensive and potentially more invasive medical treatments for ailments such as back pain and arthritis. We use individual-level panel data to...

La versione italiana di questo documento è disponibile all'indirizzo: 'http://ssrn.com/abstract=2481592' http://ssrn.com/abstract=2481592La versión en español de este artículo está disponible en: 'http://ssrn.com/abstract=2439008' http://ssrn.com/abstract=2439008A versão em português...

Supporting working mothers to balance their work and childcare responsibilities is a central objective of maternal and parental leave policies. Nearly all countries offer some forms of maternity and family leave programs for childbearing on a national basis. This chapter reviews various types of...

We discuss existing shortfalls and inequalities in the accumulation of human capital—knowledge, skills, and health. We analyze their immediate and systemic causes, and assess the scope for public intervention. The broad policy goals should be to improve: the quality, and not just the quantity,...

Policy makers responding to COVID-19 need to know people's relative valuation of health over wealth. Loosening and tightening lockdowns moves a society along a (perceived) health-wealth trade-off and the associated changes have to accord with the public's relative valuation of health and wealth...

Pension systems and reforms thereof are often discussed in the context of financial viability. In industrialized countries, these debates grow in intensity with the aging of the population; however, an increase in retirement age may create unintended side effects with regards to retiree health...

Pension systems and reforms thereof are often discussed in the context of financial viability. In industrialized countries, these debates grow in intensity with the aging of the population; however, an increase in retirement age may create unintended side effects with regards to retiree health...

Military service reduces civilian labor market experience but subsidizes higher education through the GI Bill. Both of these channels are likely to affect civilian earnings. New estimates of the effects of military service using Vietnam-era draft-lottery instruments show post-service earnings...

We conduct a field experiment in 31 primary schools in England to test the effectiveness of different temporary incentive schemes, an individual based incentive scheme and a competitive scheme, on increasing the choice and consumption of fruit and vegetables at lunchtime. The individual scheme...

Prior research suggests that high quality prekindergarten (pre-K) programs can promote school readiness and generate lifetime benefits for children. However, very little is known about how pre-K programs affect other family members. In this study, I examine the effects of the New York City pre-K...