Shattered ground, shaken minds: Mental health consequences of earthquakes.

Despite growing recognition of the importance of mental health status for the achievement of the global development goals, substantial challenges persist in addressing this issue in both developed and developing countries. The literature has pointed to a variety of conditions as triggers for mental health problems, including exposure to unexpected natural disasters. Contributing to the literature, our study quantifies the mental health consequences of the devastating 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake in Indonesia.

Income insecurity and mental health in pandemic times.

This paper contributes to the literature on the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on mental health by providing novel evidence of its interaction with labor market conditions and the long-term persistence of these effects. We run four waves of a large-scale representative survey in Spain between April 2020 and April 2022, and benchmark our data against a decade of pre-pandemic information. We document an increase in the share of individuals reporting depressive feelings from 16% prior to the pandemic to 46% in April 2020.

Reforming the provision of cross-border medical care: Evidence from Spain.

Cross-border medical care, defined as care facilitated by a local health provider under pre-established regional agreements, as in the case of European Union (EU) citizens accessing care within EU countries, has been on the rise. Unlike medical tourism, typically sought by patients through their own volition and paid for out-of-pocket, cross-border medical care is often reimbursable or paid for directly by the responsible government. Yet, because nations vary in the extent of health coverage offered to their residents, these expenditures are often only partially reimbursed.

The impact of a malaria elimination initiative on school outcomes: Evidence from Southern Mozambique.

Despite the significant improvements achieved over the last ten years, primary education attainment in Mozambique is still low. Potential reasons acting from the demand perspective include ill health, among other factors. In Mozambique, ill health is still largely linked to malaria, which is a leading cause of outpatient contacts, hospital admissions and death, particularly among under-five and school-aged children.

Terrorist attacks, Islamophobia and newborns' health.

Islamophobia has increased in the last years, in part, due to terrorist attacks perpetrated by jihadist groups. This phenomenon might be a source of stress, being particularly problematic for pregnant (Muslim) women. We examine how stress generated by the 2017 Catalonia (Spain) attacks affected the health of newborns whose mothers are from a Muslim country (as the perpetrators).

Business cycle and mortality in Spain.

In the last couple of decades, there has been a lot of interest on the impact of macroeconomic fluctuations on health and mortality rates. Many studies, for different countries, find that mortality is procyclical. However, studies examining the effects of more recent recessions are less conclusive, finding mortality to be less procyclical, or even countercyclical.

The effect of lockdowns and infection rates on supermarket sales.

In this paper we document the evolution of the supermarket sales in one of the European countries, Spain, that has been most hardly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a very detailed dataset at the weekly and municipality level on the sales of a supermarket chain, we are able to separately identify the effects on sales for 12 different food products and for three population age groups. Furthermore, we distinguish between the impact of the lockdown, which affected the entire territory by mid-March, from the effect of the number of new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases at the municipal level.

The effect of budget cuts on C-section rates and birth outcomes: Evidence from Spain.

Using data from Spain, we show the impact of significant health-sector budget cuts introduced in 2012 on the rates of cesarean sections and on infant health outcomes at birth, which we use as a proxy for the quality of birth centers. Exploiting a difference-in-differences fixed-effects approach at the hospital level, we estimate a 3% increase in C-sections as a result of the budget restrictions, with no significant consequences on health outcomes at birth. Given the additional evidence in the literature on the negative short- and long-term effects of non-medically indicated C-sections, our paper provides important policy implications for population health.

Linking Mediterranean Diet and Lifestyle with Cardio Metabolic Disease and Depressive Symptoms: A Study on the Elderly in Europe.

Against a backdrop of an aging population in Europe, promoting health in older adults becomes a pressing issue. This study aimed to explore if correlations exist between the adherence to the Mediterranean diet and specific health outcomes such as the incidence of chronic cardio metabolic illnesses and experiencing depressive symptoms for elderly individuals. We also looked into probable links between regularly engaging in vigorous physical activities and these health outcomes.

Limiting health-care access to undocumented immigrants: A wise option?

The number of undocumented migrants in high-income countries has increased in recent decades, imposing considerable political, fiscal, and social pressures on governments. This has fostered discussions on whether and to what extent undocumented migrants should get access to public programs and public benefits. Looking at the 2012 Spanish health reform, this is the first paper to document the impacts of a restriction on access to the health-care system for undocumented migrants on health-care utilization, health-care system perceptions, and self-reported health in a high-income country.

Effects of macroeconomic fluctuations on mental health and psychotropic medicine consumption.

Our aim in this paper is to understand the impact of macroeconomic fluctuations on mental health and psychotropic medicine consumption. In order to do that we exploit differences in the fluctuations of business cycle conditions across regional units in Catalonia. Our findings suggest that, in general, economic fluctuations at the local level had no significant effect on the consumption of psychotropic medicines.

Newborn health and the business cycle: The role of birth order.

We use 35 years of administrative data to document how newborn health varies with the business cycle in Spain. In panel regressions that include province and year fixed effects as well as province trends, we show that children have significantly better health outcomes at birth in times of high unemployment: a 10 percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate is significantly associated with about 2 log-points higher birth-weight, almost 2 percentage points fewer babies with low birth weight, 0.6 points fewer babies with very low birth-weight, and a 0.

Impact of SSB taxes on sales.

In this paper, we analyze a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) that was introduced in Catalonia on May 1, 2017. The Bill established the requirement of a 100% pass-through of the tax to the final consumer and two levels of the tax: 0.08 euro/liter for products with 5-less than 8 g of sugar and 0.

Long run educational and spillover effects of unconditional cash transfers: Evidence from South Africa.

Cash transfer (CT) policy is promoted as an important financial vehicle to address household poverty and bring positive societal development. This study investigates the impact of an unconditional CT policy on children's education outcomes focusing on both the primary and secondary phases of education. We also examine the spillover effect of CT policy on parents' employment.

Is changing the minimum legal drinking age an effective policy tool?

In year 1991, regional governments in Spain started a period of implementation of a law that rose the minimum legal drinking age from 16 to 18 years old. To evaluate the effects of this change on the consumption of legal drugs and its related morbidity outcomes, we construct a regional panel dataset on alcohol consumption and hospital entry registers and compare variation in several measures of prevalence between the treatment group (16-18 years old) and the control group (20-22 years old). Our findings show important differences by gender.

Act now: The effects of the 2008 Spanish disability reform.

The 2008 reform of the Spanish disability system reduced the benefits for individuals who have a short contributory history relative to their age. It also unintentionally introduced an incentive for individuals to apply for disability in the present. We use a lifecycle model and an empirical analysis to understand the overall impact of the reform.

Hiring subsidies for people with a disability: do they work?

This article evaluates the effectiveness of hiring subsidies targeted to people with disabilities. By exploiting the timing of implementation among different Spanish regions of a subsidy scheme implemented in Spain during the period 1990-2014, we employed a difference-in-differences approach to estimate the impact of the scheme on the probability of disability insurance (DI) beneficiaries of transiting to employment and on the propensity of individuals of entering the DI program. Our results show that the introduction of the subsidy scheme is in general ineffective at incentivizing transitions to employment, and in some cases it is associated with an increased propensity of transiting to DI.

The earnings and employment losses before entering the disability system.

Although a number of papers in the literature have shown the employment and wage differences between individuals receiving disability benefits and non-disabled individuals, not much is known about the potential employment and wage losses that disabled individuals suffer before being officially accepted into the disability insurance system (DI). Therefore, in this paper we compare individuals that enter into the DI system due to a progressive deterioration in the health status (ordinary illness) to similar non-disabled individuals. Our aim is to identify the differences in employment and wages between these two groups before disabled individuals are officially accepted into the DI system.

What happens to the employment of disabled individuals when all financial disincentives to work are abolished?

Policymakers and organizations representing people with disabilities have highlighted the importance of promoting the employment prospects of disabled individuals as a determinant to ensure their broader integration into the society. Policy reforms that attempt to incentivise disabled individuals to work typically involve reduced financial punishments for earning above a predetermined threshold (substantial gainful activity). This paper exploits a Spanish reform that entirely eliminated any disincentives for disabled individuals to work.

Business cycle impacts on substance use of adolescents: A multi-country analysis.

Populations respond to changes in the economic climate in a variety of ways. The recent 'Great Recession' has brought attention to the vulnerability of many economies around the world to changes in non-domestic macroeconomic fluctuations. However, empirical evidence on the responses of adolescents' substance consumption behaviour when the economy deteriorates is very scarce.

BAD TIMES, SLIMMER CHILDREN?

Although the majority of the literature has confirmed that recessions are beneficial for adults' health and babies' outcomes at delivery, this effect should not necessarily be the same for children. In this paper, we study the effect of business cycle conditions on infant underweight, overweight, and obesity. We exploit eight waves of repeated cross-sectional data (1987-2012) of the Spanish National Health Survey for children aged 2-15 and use the regional unemployment rate of the trimester of the interview as a proxy for the business cycle phase at the local level.

Effects of the great recession on drugs consumption in Spain.

This paper presents evidence on how the consumption of legal and illegal drugs has changed in response to the Great Recession in Spain. We use a large scale survey from 2005 to 2011 to analyze the association between changes in local economic conditions and drug consumption among individuals aged 15-64. Although Spain was one of the countries hardest hit by the economic downturn, the crisis was unevenly felt across the country.

[Change in productivity losses due to premature deaths in Spain: 2005-2009].

Background: The economic impact caused by diseases goes far beyond health care costs and, therefore it is transferred to the society through different dimensions. The aim of this study was to estimate the productivity losses due to premature deaths caused by diseases occurred in Spain during the period 2005-2009.

Methods: We used data from several sources (Death Registry, Labour Force Survey and Wage Structure Survey) to develop a simulation model based on the human-capital approach that allowed us to estimate the labour productivity losses caused by premature deaths in the period analysed.