There is widespread debate on the drivers of heterogeneity of adverse COVID-19 pandemic outcomes and, more specifically, on the role played by context-specific factors. We contribute to this literature by testing the role of environmental factors as measured by environmentally protected areas....

A research hypothesis on the nexus between air pollution and adverse COVID-19 outcomes postulates that particulate matter (PM) can be a carrier of the virus. Preliminary evidence through analysis of small PM samples has shown that this is the case but the strength of the transmission channel...

We estimate the life expectancy gap that can be bridged by improving the quality of public health and health care policies at EU level. Our model calculates the net effect of amenable deaths on life expectancy after controlling for fixed effects (capturing time invariant country specific factors...