The goal of this project is to investigate the influence of economic and social factors on the demand for alcohol in modern Russia. The regression models are estimated on the base of "The Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS-HSE)" 1994-2011. There are three classic models of demand for...

This paper develops a conceptual framework that can explain why economic development goes along with increases in body weight and obesity rates. We first introduce the concept of novelty consumption, which refers to an increase in food availability due to trade or innovation. Then we study how...

This paper analyzes the determinants of health insurance enrollment and health expenditure in Ghana using micro data from wave 7 of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 7) with emphasis on the role of risk preferences and the availability of health facilities in one’s own community, neither...

This paper analyzes the determinants of health insurance enrollment and health expenditure in Ghana using micro data from wave 7 of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 7) with emphasis on the role of risk preferences and the availability of health facilities in one's own community. It is...

Prior studies find a strong negative relation between smoking and body mass index (BMI). Smoking and obesity both imply a preference for utility in the present at the expense of future consumption. This study proxies time preference through a composite index of equally-weighted intertemporal...

Neoclassical economic theory rules out systematic errors in consumption choice. According to the basic view, individuals know what they choose. They are able to predict how much utility an activity or a good produces for them now and in the future and they can maximize their utility. This...

The goal of this project is to investigate the influence of economic and social factors on the demand for alcohol in modern Russia. The regression models are estimated on the base of "The Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS-HSE)" 1994-2011. There are three classic models of demand for...

This paper compares a number of economic models of addiction. We show that they are all characterised by specific assumptions relating to tastes, changes in tastes, information and dynamic consistency. From a normative point of view, this rich set of assumptions may justify liberal as well as...

How should we evaluate public health policy when unobservable heterogeneities create not only differences in the intercept of the regression lines, but also differences in policy effects (i.e. slopes) ? This paper applies a method based on latent class models, to evaluate the impact of...

This paper proposes a joint model of tobacco consumption and mortality over the life-cycle. The decision to smoke is a trade off between current utility derived from smoking and a mortality risk increasing with age. Individuals with a longer potential life expectancy have more incentive to cut...