Identification of equations explaining a continuous variable, e.g., the length of sickness absence spells, by age, cohort and time (ACT), subject to their definitional identity is reconsidered. Various extensions of a linear equation to polynomials are explored. If no interactions between the...

This paper provides an empirical analysis of reference-dependent effects of unemployment on mental well-being. We show that the negative effect of unemployment on mental well-being depends on expectations about the future employment status. Several contributions to the literature have shown that...

The introduction of antibiotics as a medical treatment after World War II helped to dramatically increase life expectancy in the industrialized world. As a consequence of over-prescription the last decades ave however seen a sharp increase in prevalence of multi-resistant bacteria, disarming...

Angesichts einer wachsenden Vielfalt an teuren Behandlungsmöglichkeiten und Medikamenten stellt die ökonomische Nachhaltigkeit eine besondere Herausforderung für Gesundheitssysteme mit universellem Versicherungsschutz dar. Ein bewährtes Mittel zur Kostendämpfung sind Zuzahlungen der...

Given the growing variety of expensive treatments and drugs, economic sustainability is a particular challenge for healthcare systems with universal insurance coverage. Patient co-payment regimes for prescription drugs are a proven means of cost containment worldwide. However, there is little...

The problem of low access to health care services in Africa remains challenging to policy makers whave thus far not sufficiently contemplated polices on the demand-side factors. To assist ipolicymaking, the present study identifies the key determinants of access to healthcare in Africa...

In the last decades, demographic change coupled with new and expensive medical innovations have put most health care systems in developed countries under financial pressure. Therefore, ensuring efficient service provision is essential for a sustainable health care system. This paper investigates...

In this paper we use longitudinal data on Swiss adolescents to nvestigate the impact of cannabis use on short-term educational performance. We focus our analysis on high school students and analyze various outcomes, including absenteeism, grades, and motivation. We exploit the panel nature of...

Using registry data on every employed Norwegian woman giving birth to her first child during the period 1995-2008, we describe patterns of certified and paid sick leave before, during and after pregnancy. By following the same women over time, we can explore how observed sick leave patterns are...

The German health care reform of 2004 imposes a charge of 10 Euro for the first visit to a doctor in each quarter of the year. Exploiting random variation in the interview day of the German Socio-Economic Panel, this study finds a substantial effect of the new fee on the probability of visiting...