This chapter reviews the empirical research on the relation between defense spending and economic growth. A broad flavor of the approaches adopted by different scholars is provided through a list of selected studies on the topic since 1973 and an outline of the variations over Benoit's original...

In this paper we consider regression models for count data allowing for overdispersion in a Bayesian framework. We account for unobserved heterogeneity in the data in two ways. On the one hand, we consider more flexible models than a common Poisson model allowing for overdispersion in different...

In this paper we examine the impacts on child health, using diarrhoea as the health outcome, (amongst children living in households) with access to different types of water and sanitation facilities, and from socio-economic and child specific factors. Using cross-sectional health survey data for...

In this paper we consider regression models for count data allowing for overdispersion in a Bayesian framework. Besides the inclusion of covariates, spatial effects are incorporated and modelled using a proper Gaussian conditional autoregressive prior based on Pettitt et al. (2002). Apart from...

Over the first half of March 2021, the majority of European governments suspended Astrazeneca's Vaxzevria vaccine as a precaution following media reports of rare blood clots. We analyse the impact of the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) March 18th statement assuring the public of the safety of...

Over the first half of March 2021, the majority of European governments suspended Astrazeneca's Vaxzevria vaccine as a precaution following media reports of rare blood clots. We analyse the impact of the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) March 18th statement assuring the public of the safety of...

We quantify the effect of mask mandates in the United States. Our regression discontinuity design exploits county-level variation in COVID-19 cases, hospital admissions, and deaths across the border between states with and without mandates. We find a significant and substantial effect-mask...

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the adoption of a number of policies that aim to reduce the spread of the disease by promoting housing stability. Housing precarity, which includes both the risk of eviction and utility disconnections or shut-offs, reduces a person’s ability to abide by...