We use matching combined with difference-in-differences to identify the causal effects of sudden illness, represented by acute hospitalizations, on employment and income up to six years after the health shock using linked Dutch hospital and tax register data. An acute hospital admission lowers...

We aim to disentangle the relative contributions of (i) cognitive ability, and (ii) education on health and mortality using a structural equation model suggested by Conti et al. (2010). We extend their model by allowing for a duration dependent variable, and an ordinal educational variable. Data...

This paper presents a unified theory of human capital with both health capital and, what we term, skill capital endogenously determined within the model. By considering joint investment in health capital and in skill capital, the model highlights similarities and differences in these two...

An age-cohort decomposition applied to panel data identifies how the mean, overall inequality and income-related inequality of self-assessed health evolve over the life cycle and differ across generations in 11 EU countries. There is a moderate and steady decline in mean health until the age of...

This discussion paper resulted in a publication in 'Social Science & Medicine' (2010). Volume 70, issue 3, pages 428-438.<P> A strong relationship between health and socioeconomic status is firmly established. Yet, partly due to the multidimensional and dynamic nature of the variables, the causal...</p>

In this paper we hypothesize that education is associated with a higher efficiency of health investment, yet that this efficiency advantage is solely driven by intelligence. We operationalize efficiency of health investment as the probability of dying conditional on a certain hospital diagnosis,...

Ill-health can be expected to reduce employment and income. But are the effects sustained over time? Do they differ across the income distribution? And are there spillover effects on the employment and income of the spouse? We use matching combined with difference-in-differences to identify the...

This discussion paper resulted in a chapter in: (Pedro Rosa Dias and Owen O’Donnell (eds)) 'Research on Economic Inequality', Volume 21: Health and Inequality, Emerald Group Publishing, 2013.<P> We explore what health-capital theory has to offer in terms of informing and directing research into...</p>

This discussion paper led to chapter <A href="https://books.google.nl/books?id=9TKgAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA327&lpg=PA327&dq=The+contribution+of+occupation+to+health+inequality&source=bl&ots=ARvoHIjbie&sig=HWA5I2mtJbsV_nJV5cvF6ixZmT0&hl=nl&sa=X&ei=FEj0VNbeGoHlUqjsgdgN&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=The%20contribution%20of%20occupation%20to%20health%20inequality&f=false">Health and Inequality</A>, pages 311-332 in: (P. Rosa Dias and O. O’Donnell (Eds)) Vol. 21 of 'Research on Economic Inequality', Emerald Group Publishing, 2013, 536 pages.<P> While it seems evident that occupations affect health, effect estimates are scarce. We...</p></a>

While there is no doubt that health is strongly correlated with education, whether schooling exerts a causal impact on health is not yet firmly established. We exploit Dutch compulsory schooling laws in a Regression Discontinuity Design applied to linked data from health surveys, tax files and...