Reporting expected longevity and smoking: evidence from the SHARE

This paper investigates formation of expected longevity in an elderly population. We use Italian data from the early (2004) release of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The SHARE provides a numerical measure for subjective survival probability (SSP). To assess internal consistency and investigate validity of SSP as a proxy of actual mortality, we compare SSP to lifetables and look at the variation with health, smoking and socio-economic variables. In a multivariate framework, we propose a recursive model for expected longevity, self-assessed health and smoking duration, where health and smoking variables are potentially endogenous. Unobservable individual-specific heterogeneity is considered by estimating a finite mixture model via the EM algorithm, which allows division of the population according to different latent classes and estimation of class membership probabilities. Our mixture model fits the data better than the single class model and provides evidence of individual unobserved heterogeneity in the formulation of survival expectations. Expectations are shown to vary most with health status, socio-economic characteristics, parental mortality and age. Two-types of individuals in the population are identified, that differ in terms of unobservable frailty and rationality in addiction. We also find differences between current and former smokers in the way they discount future consequences of tobacco consumption on health and mortality risk. Our findings suggest caution in the use of SSP as a proxy of actual mortality

Health and Economic Behaviour: a Critical Survey of the Literature

The purpose of this paper is to give a brief overview of the relevant literature on health economics. Theoretical and empirical researches are reviewed to examine the traditional perception of health and pro- vide some general intuition of why the study of the individual eco- nomic behaviour is important in the ¯eld of health. Health, wealth and lifestyles are intimately linked through a complex bidirectional re- lationship. Economists have contributed much at its understanding and have overcome the limits of the medical and epidemiological approaches. This survey concentrates on the main estimation problems found in the health production function approach. Econometric methods that take account of reverse causation, unobservable heterogeneity and endogene- ity are needed to recover the genuine causal e®ect of socio-economic factors and health-related behaviours on health. Finally, this survey looks at inequality in health as an urgent public interest issue and sug- gests to disentangle the causes of health inequalities from an economic perspective

Mortality, lifestyle and socio-economic status

This paper uses the British Health and Lifestyle Survey (1984-1985) data and the longitudinal follow-up of May 2003 to investigate the de- terminants of premature mortality risk in Great Britain. A behavioral model, which relates premature mortality to a set of observable and unobservable factors, is considered. We focus on unobservable indi- vidual heterogeneity and endogeneity a®ecting the mortality equation. A MSL approach for a multivariate probit (MVP) is used to estimate a recursive system of equations for deaths and lifestyles. This model is then compared with the univariate probit models that include or exclude lifestyles. In order to detect inequality in the distribution of health within the population and to calculate the contribution of socio- economic factors, we compare the range measure of health inequality to the Gini coe±cient for overall health inequality. A Gini decomposi- tion analysis for predicted premature mortality shows that endogenous lifestyles and unobservable heterogeneity strongly contribute to inequal- ity in mortality, reducing the role of socio-economic statu

La disponibilità a pagare e le preferenze dei turisti per i siti del Parco Geominerario della Sardegna: il caso di Porto Flavia

Questo lavoro presenta alcuni risultati di uno studio di valutazione contingente, condotto al fine di stimare il valore turistico di Porto Flavia: un sito fra i più interessanti del Parco Geominerario recentemente istituito in Sardegna sotto il patrocinio dell’UNESCO. Dopo aver discusso il ruolo che adeguate politiche di gestione dei beni culturali ed ambientali possono assumere per garantire uno sviluppo turistico sostenibile, descriviamo le principali caratteristiche del metodo, la struttura dell’indagine ed i dati ottenuti. L’analisi dei dati si concentra sulla stima della disponibilità a pagare e del flusso turistico potenziale. Sono identificati possibili obiettivi d’intervento per la valorizzazione del percorso esistente ed una gamma di prezzi per diverse opzioni di offerta turistica

Don’t call It smart: working from home during the pandemic crisis

The recent COVID-19 pandemic and related social distancing measures have significantly changed worldwide employment conditions. In developed economies, institutions and organizations, both public and private, are called upon to reflect on new organizational models of work and human resource management, which - in fact - should offer workers sufficient flexibility in adapting their work schedules remotely to their personal (and family) needs. This study aims to explore, within a Job Demands-Resources framework, whether and to what extent job demands (workload and social isolation), organizational job resources (perceived organizational support), and personal resources (self-efficacy, vision about the future and commitment to organizational change) have affected workers’ quality of life during the pandemic, taking into account the potential mediating role of job satisfaction and perceived stress. Using data from a sample of 293 workers, we estimate measurement and structural models, according to the Item Response Theory and the Path analysis frameworks, which allow us to operationalize the latent traits and study the complex structure of relationships between the latent dimensions. We inserted in the model as control variables, the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the respondents, with particular emphasis on gender differences and the presence and age of children. The study offers insights into the relationship between remote work and quality of life, and the need to rethink human resource management policies considering the opportunities and critical issues highlighted by working full-time remotely

Particulate matter induces prothrombotic microparticle shedding by human mononuclear and endothelial cells

Particulate airborne pollution is associated with increased cardiopulmonary morbidity. Microparticles are extracellular vesicles shed by cells upon activation or apoptosis involved in physiological processes such as coagulation and inflammation, including airway inflammation. We investigated the hypothesis that particulate matter causes the shedding of microparticles by human mononuclear and endothelial cells.Cells, isolated from the blood and the umbilical cords of normal donors, were cultured in the presence of particulate from a standard reference. Microparticles were assessed in the supernatant as phosphatidylserine concentration. Microparticle-associated tissue factor was assessed by an one-stage clotting assay. Nanosight technology was used to evaluate microparticle size distribution.Particulate matter induces a dose- and time- dependent, rapid (1 h) increase in microparticle generation in both cells. These microparticles express functional tissue factor. Particulate matter increases intracellular calcium concentration and phospholipase C inhibition reduces microparticle generation. Nanosight analysis confirmed that upon exposure to particulate matter both cells express particles with a size range consistent with the definition of microparticles (50-1000 nm).Exposure of mononuclear and endothelial cells to particulate matter upregulates the generation of microparticles at least partially mediated by calcium mobilization. This observation might provide a further link between airborne pollution and cardiopulmonary morbidity