Socioeconomic Status and Health Care Utilization: A Study of the Effects of Low Income, Unemployment and Hours of Work on the Demand for Health Care in the E.U.

The purpose of this study is to shed light on the individual socio-economic status (SES) and demographic determinants of the demand for health care in a cross-comparison study of nine E.U. countries. It focuses on the effects of the individual employment status on alternative indicators of demand for health care that constitutes a largely unexplored area. The evidence supports the existence of an employment status- demand for health care relationship although it varies with respect to the type of health care examined and the institutional and environmental settings of the countries utilised in the study

Are Recessions Harmful to Health After All? Evidence from the European Union

This paper investigates the effects of national unemployment rates on overall age and cause-specific mortality rates in a panel sample of 13 European Union countries. A fixed-effects model is used to control for unobserved time-invariant characteristics within countries. In addition, controls such as lifestyle risk factors, urbanisation and medical intervention indicators, for potential confounders are used. Contrary to some recent evidence this study shows that there is a strong, positive relationship between adverse economic conditions and the mortality

Past Unemployment Experience and Health Status

This paper explores the relationship between individual past unemployment experience and alternative measures of individual health state after controlling for a number of current characteristics and current socio-economic status. Three alternative indicators of past unemployment status are used namely; the number and the duration of past unemployment spells. The study finds a cumulative effect of prolonged past unemployment experience on current individual health status. It also finds that those who are wealthier are also healthier. Finally the different institutional and cultural frameworks prevailing across different E.U countries appear to affect the health - past unemployment experience relationship.European Commission, Fifth Framework Programme “Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources” (contract number: QLRT-2001-02292)

Socioeconomic, Health and Behavioural Determinants of Obesity in Europe

In this study we investigate the impact of various socioeconomic, health and behavioural conditions on the prevalence of obesity in nine EU countries using the “European Community Household Panel” Dataset. The effect of those factors on obesity is estimated separately for males and females using a model that follows the standard normal cumulative density function (probit). Our findings indicate that low socioeconomic profile as well as bad health leads to a higher body mass, while smokers are less likely to be obese. These findings follow more or less an analogous trend for the nine European countries and hold for both sexes, appearing, though, to be more consistent for the females

Estimation of AIDS demand systems for Greece, with applications to the welfare effects of the EEC: harmonisation of alcohol and tobacco taxes

Estimation of an aggregate Almost Ideal Demand System including distributional effects allows the recovery of individual household'spreferences and provides the basis for an empirical analysis of the welfare effects of changes in indirect taxes with special referenceto the recent EEC proposals of fiscal harmonisation. More specificaly we are concerned with the welfare effects of harmonizing the alcohol and tobacco indirect taxes (value added tax and excise duties) for Greek consumers. Hence we calculate the distribution of gains and losses from these tax change using the equivalent income function which is money metric utility defined over observable variables. It is suggested that it could contribute in worsening the situation for the low-income groups. However the distributional consequences would depend on the nature of compensatory measures to protect the living standards of poorer households. The Ideal Demand System is also estimated without demographic effects using annual Greek data over the period 1960 -1987

Estimating the Demand for Cigarettes in Greece: An Error Correction Model

This paper provides an empirical analysis of cigarette consumption in Greece for the period 1960-1995 using the recent developments on cointegration techniques and error correction models. It was found that the empirical model performs well on both theoretical and statistical grounds. Short- and long-run impacts of price and income changes on cigarette demand were obtained and found to be small

Estimating the Demand for Cigarettes in Greece: An Error Correction Model

This paper provides an empirical analysis of cigarette consumption in Greece for the period 1960-1995 using the recent developments on cointegration techniques and error correction models. It was found that the empirical model performs well on both theoretical and statistical grounds. Short- and long-run impacts of price and income changes on cigarette demand were obtained and found to be small.Consumer/Household Economics,

Are recessions harmful to health after all?: Evidence from the European Union

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of national unemployment rates on overall age and cause-specific mortality rates in a panel sample of 13 European Union countries. Design/methodology/approach – A fixed-effects model is used to control for unobserved time-invariant characteristics within countries. In addition, controls such as lifestyle risk factors, urbanisation and medical intervention indicators, for potential confounders are used. Findings – Contrary to some recent evidence this study shows that there is a strong, positive relationship between adverse economic conditions and mortality. This is in contrast to findings about the US case. Originality/value – This paper revisits the issue of the unemployment-mortality relationship by utilising fixed effect models with controls for various indicators that are expected to affect mortality, in contrast to previous studies.Death rate, Europe, Personal health, Recession, Unemployment