The link between health condition costs and standard of living: A structural equation modelling

This study employs a Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to explore the health related costs using the Standard of Livings (SoL) approach in Turkey, employing data from the cross sectional Household Budget Survey (HBS) over the period 2002-2013. The SEM allows us to investigate all these concerns simultaneously. A health condition index is created regarding questions related to the mental and physical limitations (disability) of people. The study extends the previous research by the following ways. First, a SEM framework is introduced, which accounts for the measurement error in both SoL and health-condition indices and it allows for the simultaneous estimation of the link between health condition costs and SoL using structural equations. The underlying theory of the SoL approach is that a household’s SoL is a function of needs and income and the additional costs of disability can be estimated by comparing the standard of livings of household with and without disabled members and controlling for other source of variation. The results show that disability has a significant and negative impact on SoL. Second, exploiting the health reform of 2008, a quasi-experiment approach using difference-in-difference (DID) regression within a SEM framework between the disabled and non-disabled households takes place. The disability related costs consist of the 23 per cent of the household income corresponding to 4,000 Turkish Liras (TL)

Empirical Application of Collective Household Labour Supply Model in Iraq

In this study we explore the determinants of the women’s labour supply and we attempt to identify the sharing rules for married couples. The analysis relies on data derived by the Iraqi Household Socio-Economic Survey (IHSES) in 2012-2013. The study considers the housework contributed by both spouses and we also include the disability status as a distribution factor. Moreover, we estimate the sharing rules accounting for female non-participation in the labour market. The household collective model is preferred over the unitary model as the results support that changes on wages, non-labour income, age, education, number of children and disability as a distribution factor affect the bargaining power and the share of spouses. The findings show that for a one per cent increase on female’s daily wage rate, her share on full income is increased by 1,250 Iraqi Dinar (ID) corresponding to $1.1, while is increased at 1,470 ID (1.25$) when the domestic labour is considered. Similarly, increases on the male’s wage increase her share by 600 ID (0.48$), while increases of 1 ID in the non-labour income increases female’s share by 0.42. The estimates show that the disabled women decrease the share by 1,135 ID (0.96$) more than the non-disabled ones reaching the 1,300 ID (1.1$) including the domestic labour supply. Therefore, considering disability as a distribution factor, besides the traditional factors of age, education and sex ratio, it can significantly influence the labour supply choices of the couples, their bargaining power and the intra-household resource allocation. Furthermore, the findings show that when the non-participation of the wife in the labour market is examined, her share and therefore bargaining power is lower than their married and earners counterparts

The Impact of Syrian Conflict and The Refugee Crisis on Labour Market Outcomes of Host Countries

The civil war in Syria, which started in March of 2011, has led to a massive influx of forced migration, especially from the Northern Syria to the neighbouring countries. The unexpected movement of refugees has created large exogenous labour supply shocks with potential significant effects on the labour and living standard outcomes of natives in the host countries. While earlier studies have explored the impact of the Syrian refugee crisis on the natives’ labour outcomes little is known about its impact in Egypt. Furthermore, the literature does not provide evidence about the impact of the Syrian refugee inflows on the labour outcomes of migrants who have been relocated in the host countries before the refugee crisis. Using a difference-in-differences (DID) framework this study explores the impact of Syrian refugees on labour outcomes in Egypt, Jordan and Turkey. Furthermore, we implement an instrumental variables (IV) approach within the DID framework, where we instrument the Syrian population at the area-governorate level of the host country with variables that incorporate physical travel distances. The results are mixed and vary, not only across the labour outcomes explored, but also across demographic and socio-economic groups, as females and low educated are mostly affected by the refugee crisis negatively. However, the effects, positive or negative, are rather negligible

Implications of COVID-19: The Effect of Working from Home on Financial and Mental Well-Being in the UK

In response to the threat posed by COVID-19, the UK prime minister announced on the 23rd of March strict lockdowns and introduced a new way of living and working, at least temporarily. This included working from home wherever possible. Many experts from the IT industry were long arguing about the potential for working from home, which suddenly now became indisputable. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of working from home on the individuals’ perception about their future financial situation and their mental well-being. We apply a difference-in-differences framework using data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) combined with the UKHLS COVID-19 survey conducted in April 2020. Our findings suggest that those who have not experienced a shift from working at the employer’s premises to working from home became more concerned about their future financial situation. However, we find that working from home has a negative impact on mental well-being. On the other hand, we find no difference in the mental well-being when we consider those who work from home on occasion. The findings of this study have policy implications for government, firms and health practitioners. In particular, a balance between working from home and at the employer’s premises may provide both financial security and maintain the mental and psychological well-being at satisfying levels

Productivity and Resource Misallocation: Evidence from Firms in in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region Countries

Resource reallocation from low to high productivity firms can generate large aggregate productivity gains with further potential benefits to economic growth. This study examines the productivity and resource misallocation in a sample of countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and Turkey. The analysis relies on data derived from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys over the period 2008-2016 of firms in Egypt, Turkey and Yemen. Furthermore, in the analysis we include various firm characteristics, and we explore major state-business relations (SBRs) and their association to resource misallocation. The results are mixed where in Egypt and Turkey female ownership and international quality are positively associated with productivity and allocation efficiency, while in all cases obstacles in SBRs present a negative and significant correlation with the firms’ performance and productivity, reducing the allocation efficiency and increasing the dispersions on output and capital

Being Healthy in Turkey: A Pseudo-Panel Data Analysis

This study empirically examines the determinants of health status in Turkey. Moreover, this is the first study up to date that explores the indoor air pollution as a determinant of health in Turkey using a micro-level dataset. Relevant analyses are done using Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) Cross Sectional Income and Living Conditions Survey (2006-2012). Two approaches are followed for the entire analyses. Using Pseudo-Panel Data based on age cohorts, an Adapted Probit Fixed Effects Model is applied to control for time invariant characteristics of the regions, thereby eliminating potentially large sources of bias. Moreover, Random-Effects Ordered Logit Model is applied as a robustness check. Various determinants are examined including household and personal characteristics such as socioeconomic status. The findings show that income and education are the most important socioeconomic determinants of health followed by the marital and employment status. Furthermore, estimations for fuel-typed used in dwelling as a proxy for indoor air pollution show that using natural gas and electricity has more positive effects on individuals’ health status than using wood or coal. Finally, findings may point out the importance of policies on the education reconstruction, income distribution and clean environment to improve health status of people and reduce health inequalitie

The Effect of Survivors’ Benefits on Poverty and Health Status of Widowed Women: A Turkish Case Study

This study examines the effects of survivor benefits on widowed women’s’ health status and wealth using the Income and Living Conditions Survey (ILCS) in Turkey during the period 2006-2012. A structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is applied, where the causal assumptions from survivor benefits on health and wealth are tested. The results show that those who claim the survivor benefits report a higher health status level by 0.11 units the scale from 1 to 5 than widowed mothers that do not receive the benefits. Examining the sample of those who receive the survivor benefits, a 1 per cent increase in the survivor benefits results to a 2 per cent reduction in poverty

Who is Left Behind? Altruism of Giving, Happiness and Mental Health during the Covid-19 Period in the UK

The UK government has decided to implement lockdown measures at the end of March 2020 as a response to the outbreak and spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. As a consequence, households have experienced job losses and a significant drop in their finances. During these unprecedented and difficult times, people provide financial assistance to those who are in need and have to cope with falls in their living standards. In this study we are interested to investigate the subjective well-being, which is expressed by mental health and components of general happiness, of the givers rather than of receivers. We apply a difference-in-differences framework to investigate the impact of altruism on the givers’ SWB in the UK. Altruism is denoted by transfers made to adult children, parents, siblings, and friends. Using the DiD estimator and the estimated coefficient of the household income we calculate the implicit willingness-to-pay (WTP) for altruism. We perform various regressions by gender and racial-ethnic background using data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS). The analysis shows that altruistic behaviours impact different domains of SWB between men and women, as well as, among people with different racial-ethnic background

The Effect of Survivors’ Benefits on Poverty and Health Indicators of Women and Children in Widowed-Mother Households: A Turkish Case Study

Survivors' benefits are cash payments made by government to family members when a worker dies. His or her spouse and unmarried children are entitled to receive these cash benefits. The payments are intended to help ease the financial strain caused by the loss of the worker's income. Survivors can receive benefits if the deceased partner was employed and contributed to Social Security long enough to be considered insured. Although these benefits aim to help single-head households who are in financial difficulties due to the loss of an additional household income, the remaining parents have generally serious challenges to do work both at labor market and home such as childrearing and house chores. Widows across the world therefore share two common experiences: a loss of social status and reduced economic circumstances. Prior research suggests that widowhood is much more common experience among women than men. Moreover, it is more likely to cause financial difficulties for women than for men, and financial strain reducing well-being of women. Using Cross-Sectional Income and Living Conditions Survey of Turkey (2006-2012), the first aim of this paper is to empirically analyze the effect of survivors’ benefits on poverty indicators of widowed-mother households and secondly to investigate whether survivors’ benefits promote health status of women and children in these families