Economics And Human Biology[JOURNAL]
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200 papers
Economic progress in twentieth-century Portugal: Revisiting the evidence.
Cermeño AL, Palma N, Pistola R
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 42019162 · Publisher ↗
Using three independent archival sources, we previously documented substantial declines in stunting and wasting in Portugal during the mid-twentieth century. This note revisits the original evidence, clarifies the descri...
Using three independent archival sources, we previously documented substantial declines in stunting and wasting in Portugal during the mid-twentieth century. This note revisits the original evidence, clarifies the descriptive scope of our analysis, and situates the observed anthropometric changes within the broader evolution of public health, nutrition, and social policy in Portugal. We show that the timing and magnitude of the declines are robust to alternative data restrictions and aggregation choices, and that the documented improvements are consistent with contemporaneous expansions in health infrastructure and access documented in the historical record. Hence our paper documents that sustained progress began prior to democracy.
Patient selection or rational patient choice? Insights from a hospital competition model with heterogeneous agents.
Guccio C, Lisi D, Mazza I … +1 more , Pignataro G
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 42019161 · Publisher ↗
Hospitals differ along several dimensions, including ownership structure, strategic objectives, and resource capacity, while patients vary in illness severity, comorbidities, and other factors affecting their healthcare...
Hospitals differ along several dimensions, including ownership structure, strategic objectives, and resource capacity, while patients vary in illness severity, comorbidities, and other factors affecting their healthcare needs. Available empirical evidence of patient selection by hospitals, however, is rather limited. In this paper, we develop a theoretical model of quality competition under regulated prices that incorporates provider heterogeneity-such as distinctions between public and private hospitals-and patient heterogeneity in terms of illness severity. In our framework, hospitals are not allowed to track patients at the admission and face capacity constraints which induces congestion costs to patients. We show that, even in the absence of explicit patient screening, differences in hospital case mix can arise endogenously through rational patient choice. Moreover, the extent of this case mix differentiation increases with the degree of heterogeneity among agents in the market. Our findings suggest that observed disparities in patient composition across hospitals do not, in themselves, constitute evidence of opportunistic selection. Rather, they may reflect equilibrium outcomes driven by quality differences, capacity constraints, and heterogeneous patient preferences.
Be rich, grow tall? Testing whether parental social origin is associated with filial body height using two German student cohorts.
Bittmann F
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 42001669 · Publisher ↗
Various theoretical arguments suggest that parental social origin is positively associated with the body height of their children. Using two cohorts from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), which provide...
Various theoretical arguments suggest that parental social origin is positively associated with the body height of their children. Using two cohorts from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), which provide prospective panel data covering ages eight to 19, we empirically test this relationship. To capture social origin comprehensively, we operationalize it as a multidimensional construct incorporating economic, educational, and occupational characteristics of both parents. In cross-sectional models with repeated observations of the same individuals, we find that boys from socially advantaged families are, on average, taller. For girls, no association between social origin and height is observed in these models. To examine whether children from socially advantaged families grow faster than their peers, we estimate panel regression models with individual fixed effects. These models indicate that socially advantaged students experience significantly faster growth, a finding that holds for both boys and girls. Finally, using data from the final measurement wave of the secondary school cohort, when respondents are approximately 19 years old, we show that adult height remains associated with parental social origin. Among boys, the height difference between individuals from the least and most advantaged families is approximately 1.2 cm; among girls, the corresponding difference is about 1.3 cm. Taken together, these results demonstrate a persistent association between parental social origin and offspring body height in contemporary Germany.
The impact of excess body mass on employment prospects in Australia.
Vijayasivajie A, Mukhopadhaya P, Heaton C
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41950631 · Publisher ↗
This paper investigates whether overweight and/or obese individuals face diminished employment prospects in the labour market in Australia. Exploiting the 2006-2019 Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia surv...
This paper investigates whether overweight and/or obese individuals face diminished employment prospects in the labour market in Australia. Exploiting the 2006-2019 Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey panel data, we implement empirical strategies that account for the role of previous-period employment and previous-period body mass on current employment. We find less than compelling evidence that individuals carrying excess body mass (as measured by body mass index, BMI) are less likely to be employed in Australia. Results from the dynamic correlated random effects probit, which assumes functional linearity of unobserved time-constant heterogeneity and strict exogeneity of body mass, yield a negative association between excess body mass (BMI as a categorical or continuous variable) and employment. The finding is robust to the use of a narrower definition of employed/unemployed and BMI values corrected for subjectivity bias. When both assumptions are relaxed through the generalised method of moments procedures, none of the excess body mass coefficients attain statistical significance. Conducting a granular analysis by gender, no association between excess body mass and employment for men or women is evident, regardless of the empirical strategy that is adopted. Investigating the channels of effect, the results also fail to give credence to (taste-based/statistical) discrimination and health-related productivity as channels influencing the excess body mass-employment relationship in Australia. Overall, we fail to garner convincing evidence that individuals' excess body mass status lowers their employment prospects in Australia.
The international diffusion of medical innovation since 1900: Revisiting the Preston curve.
Gallardo-Albarrán D, Jochemsen J
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41950630 · Publisher ↗
The health of nations has improved at an unprecedented rate since the start of the 20th century, following a series of waves of mortality declines. While the timing and intensity of these waves have been documented, the...
The health of nations has improved at an unprecedented rate since the start of the 20th century, following a series of waves of mortality declines. While the timing and intensity of these waves have been documented, the factors influencing their emergence and diffusion are still debated. This article examines the creation and adoption of health-enhancing technologies since the early stages of the epidemiological transition around 1900. We estimate health frontiers, as originally done by Preston (1975), to infer how health-enhancing knowledge develops and diffuses across countries. Our results show that the creation of health-enhancing innovation has been strongly income biased since 1900. Up to 1920, upward shifts in the health frontiers happened almost exclusively at high levels of income. After that and until 2000, we find evidence that health frontiers moved up at low levels of income with a delay of about 20-40 years, relative to upward shifts at high income levels. We also show that education does not confound our findings because factors other than income are also associated with life expectancy increases. Finally, we perform a growth accounting exercise suggesting that Western Europe and its Offshoots have mostly reached high health levels by pushing up the knowledge frontier, while the experience of the rest of the world is much more varied.
The impact of a household-level food retail environment health quality measure on diet quality.
Scharadin B, Ver Ploeg M, Miller L
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41931863 · Publisher ↗
Differences in access to healthy and affordable food retailers may contribute to disparities in diet-related health. Although this relationship has been studied extensively, due to the wide-reaching significance of the i...
Differences in access to healthy and affordable food retailers may contribute to disparities in diet-related health. Although this relationship has been studied extensively, due to the wide-reaching significance of the impacts of poor diet-related health, most research focuses on the effect for the average household. However, focusing on the effect for the average household may mask heterogeneity in how individuals are exposed to their local food retail environment. Using household-level data from the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey, we contribute to the food retail environment literature by utilizing a continuous, household-specific measure of exposure to the healthfulness of the food retail environment to examine how this exposure may influence household diet quality. Using Instrumental Variable methods, we find that improving household exposure to a healthier food retail environment is positively related to household diet quality and that responsiveness to improved exposure is heterogeneous across food groups and household demographics. Specifically, the responsiveness is largest for households residing in low and moderate quality food environments and lower-income households, independent of SNAP participation. As a result, targeted programs that improve household-specific exposure to healthier food retail environments, as part of a broader suite of policies and programs, may be an effective lever for policymakers to improve diet-related health outcomes.
The impact of personalised weight feedback on heart attack incidence: A regression discontinuity approach.
Cook W
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41931862 · Publisher ↗
This study investigates whether providing individuals with feedback about their weight status influences long-term health outcomes, specifically the incidence of myocardial infarction (heart attack) over a 13-19 year per...
This study investigates whether providing individuals with feedback about their weight status influences long-term health outcomes, specifically the incidence of myocardial infarction (heart attack) over a 13-19 year period. Using data from the UK Biobank, where participants received weight status feedback based on Body Mass Index (BMI) thresholds, the study employs a regression discontinuity design to estimate the causal impact of receiving adverse weight information. The findings reveal that such feedback reduces the risk of myocardial infarction by 0.6 %age points, representing an approximate 18% relative risk reduction. While the magnitude of the effect is modest, the low cost and scalability of information-based interventions suggest a potential value in preventative healthcare. These results contribute to the literature by linking personalised health information not just to behavioural change, but to tangible long-term health outcomes. The study supports the integration of weight feedback into routine screening programmes as a cost-effective strategy to mitigate heart attack risk and improve population health as part of preventative health policy.
Fertility behaviour under geopolitical uncertainty: Evidence from Ukraine.
Saha J
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41924791 · Publisher ↗
This study investigates how a surge in geopolitical uncertainty in a smaller state, arising from aggression by a larger power, influences fertility behaviour within the affected state. Focusing on Ukraine during the post...
This study investigates how a surge in geopolitical uncertainty in a smaller state, arising from aggression by a larger power, influences fertility behaviour within the affected state. Focusing on Ukraine during the post-Crimean crisis period, the analysis constructs counterfactual scenarios using the Synthetic Control Method and the Synthetic Difference-in-Differences Method. The results show that geopolitical uncertainty significantly reduces fertility rates, suggesting that households exhibit precautionary behaviour in their fertility decisions in response to such uncertainty. This finding is robust across a series of robustness and sensitivity tests. Thus, this study introduces a novel variable to the fertility behaviour literature and demonstrates that, in a low-fertility regime, geopolitical uncertainty is a crucial predictor of fertility behaviour.
The effects of extreme heat on stroke hospitalizations: Evidence from China.
Li L, Zhao N, Zhao C … +3 more , Zhang X, Ma C, Xu W
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41916023 · Publisher ↗
This study examines the impact of extreme heat on stroke-related hospitalization outcomes, specifically total expenditures and length of hospital stay, in a developing country context. Using patient-level hospitalization...
This study examines the impact of extreme heat on stroke-related hospitalization outcomes, specifically total expenditures and length of hospital stay, in a developing country context. Using patient-level hospitalization data collected from a major Chinese city, we report that heatwave exposure is positively correlated with both hospitalization expenditures and duration. Specifically, each additional day within the preceding week in which the average temperature exceeds 30 °C, relative to a moderate-temperature day (18-22 °C), is associated with a 1.92% (95% CI 1.390-2.453, 340.98 yuan) increase in total hospitalization expenditures. The effects are especially pronounced among male patients and those experiencing hemorrhagic stroke, with reimbursement-related costs accounting for the majority of the observed increase. We further explored potential mechanisms through both physiological and psychological pathways. Our findings suggest that stroke patients with preexisting cardiovascular conditions and mental disorders may be particularly vulnerable to extreme heat exposure.
Urban-rural medical insurance integration and universal health insurance coverage in China: A quasi-experimental study.
Hu M, Huo J, Ouyang Y … +4 more , Nie W, Li S, Ye X, Yu S
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41905102 · Publisher ↗
Fragmented health insurance systems create barriers to universal health coverage (UHC) and reinforce social inequalities in urban development. To address these challenges, China implemented an urban-rural medical insuran...
Fragmented health insurance systems create barriers to universal health coverage (UHC) and reinforce social inequalities in urban development. To address these challenges, China implemented an urban-rural medical insurance integration policy, aiming to unify fragmented schemes and equalize access to healthcare. Using data from the China Labor-force Dynamic Survey and policy implementation records across 337 prefecture-level cities, this study applies a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) design to estimate the causal effects of integration. The results show that the reform significantly increased universal health insurance coverage (UHI) in Chinese cities, raising coverage by about 5.6%. Mechanism analysis indicates that higher reimbursement rates and lower out-of-pocket expenditures enhanced individuals' incentives to enroll. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals stronger effects among disadvantaged groups, such as those with lower education levels and older adults, while no crowding-out effect on commercial insurance is observed. The findings suggest that integrating fragmented health insurance systems can advance universal coverage and promote the equalization of public services, thereby contributing to more inclusive and sustainable cities.
Seasonal influenza vaccination uptake and digital literacy: Evidence from European data.
Celidoni M, Handastya N, Weber G … +1 more , Zambon N
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41865640 · Publisher ↗
This study documents the association between computer skills/digital literacy and influenza vaccination take-up among older adults in Europe during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from the Survey of Health, A...
This study documents the association between computer skills/digital literacy and influenza vaccination take-up among older adults in Europe during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, we find a positive partial correlation between influenza vaccination take-up and two indicators of pre-pandemic computer skills/digital literacy, self-assessed pre-pandemic computer skills and having used a computer at work in any pre-pandemic job. We estimate also a positive partial association between increased digital skills during the pandemic and take-up decision. We show that increased digital skills is more likely among those having already better pre-pandemic computer skills, suggesting that the pandemic might have exacerbated inequalities in take-up due to a widening in the so-called digital divide.
Prescriptions for mental health and the labor market penalties of cerebral palsy.
Asuman D, Ásgeirsdóttir TL, Jarl J
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41861571 · Publisher ↗
We explore mental health as a potential mechanism to explain the labor market penalty of an early-onset physical disability using administrative data from Sweden. For methodological reasons, we focus on persons with Cere...
We explore mental health as a potential mechanism to explain the labor market penalty of an early-onset physical disability using administrative data from Sweden. For methodological reasons, we focus on persons with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and use prescriptions for mental health conditions. We examine how much of the differences in labor market outcomes is explained by prescriptions for mental health conditions and whether the mental health gradient differs between persons with and without CP. Finally, we assess whether the social insurance system compensates for potential lost earnings due to mental health through access to social benefits. We find that prescriptions for mental health conditions explain only a small part of the labor market penalties of CP. While mental health may impose additional employment penalties, labor market benefits exist for the treatment of mental health conditions among persons with CP. Furthermore, we find that the social insurance system partially compensates for the earnings penalties of CP through access to social benefits. Our results underscore the importance of understanding the interactions between mental health and labor market outcomes of persons with motor disabilities.
Health effects of urgent care center entry: The case of WellNow.
Barker EH, Wu S
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41849965 · Publisher ↗
This paper uses multiple sources of data to study the effect of the entry of WellNow urgent care centers (UCC) in New York State on individual health outcomes and health care access. Using both two-way fixed regressions...
This paper uses multiple sources of data to study the effect of the entry of WellNow urgent care centers (UCC) in New York State on individual health outcomes and health care access. Using both two-way fixed regressions and robust event study models, we show that the opening of a new urgent care center leads to better self-assessed health for individuals living in that particular county. We also find evidence of a decreased strain on the local healthcare system, as the opening of a nearby WellNow facility leads to shorter hospital waiting times and increased likelihood that individuals have a timely routine checkup.
Do maltreated children think of suicide more? Evidence from South Korea.
Tuzel E, Kwak DW, Tang KK
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41849964 · Publisher ↗
Despite extensive research on adolescent mental health, the effects of maltreatment by parents on suicidal thoughts in children remain underexplored. This study aims to fill this gap using data from the Korean Youth Pane...
Despite extensive research on adolescent mental health, the effects of maltreatment by parents on suicidal thoughts in children remain underexplored. This study aims to fill this gap using data from the Korean Youth Panel Survey and a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences methodology with a staggered treatment design and individual fixed effects. Our results indicate that self-reported child maltreatment is associated with an average increase of nearly 6 percentage points in the probability of reporting suicidal thoughts. Notably, self-reported verbal maltreatment has a larger estimated effect than self-reported physical maltreatment. These findings underscore the need for early identification and intervention strategies that address both verbal and physical maltreatment.
The lingering shadow: Understanding the long-term impact of natural disasters on social trust.
Yu X, Liu Y, Yang Y
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41814103 · Publisher ↗
This study examines the impact of earthquakes on social trust in China. Leveraging the exogenous nature of the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake and adopting a cohort difference-in-differences (Cohort DID) methodology, we identif...
This study examines the impact of earthquakes on social trust in China. Leveraging the exogenous nature of the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake and adopting a cohort difference-in-differences (Cohort DID) methodology, we identify the long-term causal effect of experiencing an earthquake during adolescence (ages 8-20) on individuals' subsequent social trust. Our findings demonstrate that adolescent exposure to the earthquake exerts a significantly negative long-term impact on social trust in adulthood. We reveal that this effect exhibits multifaceted manifestations: it is geographically concentrated in urban areas, more pronounced among males, and attenuated by political affiliation. Furthermore, reduced social interactions and eroded social trust constitute shared manifestations of latent psychological trauma arising from the disaster. These results highlight that natural disasters inflict enduring and multifaceted psychological scars on youth, underscoring the necessity of targeted mental health interventions for young disaster survivors in developing countries.
Spousal bereavement and depression: Testing moderating effects of pre-loss circumstances and social support in India.
Victor V
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41780261 · Publisher ↗
Widowhood represents a critical life transition with profound implications for mental health, yet causal evidence from low and middle income countries (LMICs) remains scarce. This gap is particularly acute in contexts li...
Widowhood represents a critical life transition with profound implications for mental health, yet causal evidence from low and middle income countries (LMICs) remains scarce. This gap is particularly acute in contexts like India, where population ageing is accelerating rapidly, and traditional family support systems are evolving. The causal effect of spousal loss on depression is estimated using panel data from India's Longitudinal Ageing Study (LASI) and doubly robust difference-in-differences (DRDID) estimation. Depression trajectories were compared between 343 older adults who experienced widowhood and 2305 married controls (sample mean age 65 years 2 months), adjusted for baseline characteristics. Widowhood increases depressive symptoms by 1.07 CES-D points, representing an 11% increase relative to baseline. The effects vary substantially by characteristics of the loss and social context. Individuals who lost healthy spouses experienced significantly greater mental health deterioration compared to those whose spouses were chronically ill, suggesting that sudden, unexpected loss generates more severe psychological consequences than anticipated bereavement. The findings also show larger effects among socially isolated individuals, though this difference does not reach conventional significance levels. Interestingly, even socially connected individuals show substantial effects, indicating that spousal relationships provide unique mental health benefits that cannot be fully replaced by other social ties. These findings have important implications for targeting bereavement, support interventions in ageing populations and provide supportive evidence for the identification strategy by demonstrating effect patterns inconsistent with anticipatory grief bias.
The role of parenting style and socio-economic status in child development: Understanding the underlying dynamics.
Matteazzi E, Prete V
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41763176 · Publisher ↗
We apply latent class analysis to the German Family Panel data to identify latent family types and assess the association between various aspects of the home environment and child development. These aspects include famil...
We apply latent class analysis to the German Family Panel data to identify latent family types and assess the association between various aspects of the home environment and child development. These aspects include family socio-economic background, parenting style, and parental involvement in children's learning activities. Child development is measured across several dimensions, including schooling outcomes, non-cognitive abilities, psychological well-being, and maintaining a healthy weight. Our findings suggest that a rich socio-economic background appears more strongly associated with schooling performance, social integration, and maintaining a healthy weight than parenting style. In contrast, self-esteem and psychological well-being are more closely related to parenting quality, indicating that good parenting may compensate for the disadvantages of growing up in a poor socio-economic family environment. For most outcomes, additive dynamics between parenting style and socio-economic status correspond to larger development gaps between children from the least and most advantaged families.
The relationship between oil production and infant health outcomes: Evidence from fracking boom.
Noghanibehambari H, Salari M, Tavassoli N … +1 more , Vu H
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41719741 · Full text
This paper examines the effects of oil and gas production on infant health using birth records from 1990 to 2020. We focus on the rise of unconventional extraction methods-particularly hydraulic fracturing ("fracking")-a...
This paper examines the effects of oil and gas production on infant health using birth records from 1990 to 2020. We focus on the rise of unconventional extraction methods-particularly hydraulic fracturing ("fracking")-as a quasi-exogenous shock to local production. Exploiting the staggered discovery of fracking potential across shale counties, coupled with measures of production potential as identifying variation, we implement a difference-in-differences design to estimate the impact of drilling exposure on birth outcomes. We find that exposure to drilling activity significantly reduces birth weight, increases the incidence of low birth weight and preterm birth, and impairs fetal growth. Linking drilling to changes in local ambient pollution, we show that exposure significantly increases concentrations of ozone, PM, PM, and SO-pollutants known to affect fetal development. These environmental changes likely contribute to the observed negative effects on infant health. Our findings offer insights into the broader costs and benefits of oil and gas extraction for local communities.
The legacy of Agent Orange: Prenatal exposure to dioxin and human capital formation.
Bui T
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41713381 · Publisher ↗
This paper examines the effect of prenatal exposure to Agent Orange, a dioxin-contaminated herbicide that was dispersed on a large scale in South Vietnam for military operations during the Vietnam War, on educational att...
This paper examines the effect of prenatal exposure to Agent Orange, a dioxin-contaminated herbicide that was dispersed on a large scale in South Vietnam for military operations during the Vietnam War, on educational attainment of Vietnamese civilians. The identification strategy exploits province-by-cohort variation in the intensity of Agent Orange sprayed. I find that controlling for conventional bombing, cohorts exposed in utero to Agent Orange (who were born between 1962 and 1971) have lower educational attainment compared to other birth cohorts. The same inference is obtained when employing an instrumental-variable approach that uses the density of North Vietnamese army bases as an instrument for the intensity of Agent Orange. The findings demonstrate that prenatal health shocks resulting from exposure to toxic chemicals play an important role in shaping human capital formation.
Biases in medical decision-making: A cross-medication comparison.
Cantarella M, Cantarella S, Zaninotto F … +2 more , Riccaboni M, Galli G
Econ Hum Biol · 2026 May · PMID 41666482 · Publisher ↗
In this paper, we investigate whether cognitive biases in medical decision-making differ across types of medications when objective risks of side effects are held constant. Using data from a survey and a stated-choice ex...
In this paper, we investigate whether cognitive biases in medical decision-making differ across types of medications when objective risks of side effects are held constant. Using data from a survey and a stated-choice experiment, we compare hypothetical medication-taking responses across four medication choices, including vaccines and therapeutic interventions, and four combinations of trials and side effects. Our main findings suggest that individuals are generally rational and prefer medications with lower risks, but responses to risk information differ systematically by medication type. In particular, individuals are more susceptible to salient side-effect information, especially for vaccines, even when overall risk levels are identical. Examining individual-level sources of variation, we find that many of these vaccine-specific distortions are substantially reduced once we account for vaccination hesitancy and illness-related anxiety, while other correlated individual characteristics also play an important role in explaining heterogeneity in medication-taking behaviour.
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