This is the first study to analyze effects of in utero exposure to the severe Dutch Hunger Winter famine (1944/45) on labor market outcomes and hospitalization. This famine is clearly demarcated in time and space. It was not anticipated. Nutritional conditions were stable before and after the...

This is the first study to analyze effects of in utero exposure to the severe Dutch Hunger Winter famine (1944/45) on labor market outcomes and hospitalization. This famine is clearly demarcated in time and space. It was not anticipated. Nutritional conditions were stable before and after the...

Using a sample of Australians who display high rates of early school-leaving, we compare the trajectories of respondents who left school at each incremental age between 14 and 17 with respondents who left at 18 years old or more, in terms of homelessness, incarceration, substance use and mental...

Around 50 years ago, the Netherlands decriminalized cannabis for recreational use. This paper uses retrospective data on the ages at which individuals began and ceased cannabis use to reconstruct its prevalence in Amsterdam during the period surrounding the policy change. This approach enables a...

We present a theory of human capital, with its two most essential components, health capital and, what we term, skill capital, endogenously determined within the model. Using the theory, and a calibrated version of it, we uncover and highlight an important economic mechanism driving...

This paper studies the relationship between early mental health episodes and early homelessness, focusing on depression and anxiety amongst disadvantaged Australians. Using data from the Australian Journeys Home survey, we investigate whether the early onset of mental health conditions make a...

This paper assesses the impact of a mental health literacy intervention on the demand for mental health support among university students. We run a field experiment with 2,978 university students from one of the largest Dutch universities. The literacy intervention provides information on the...

We study the power of social incentives to increase individuals' investment in preventive health using small financial incentives with group conditionality. In a field experiment in El Salvador, we compare those to equivalent individual incentives. Despite the uncertainty about others' behavior,...

Population-based screening can prevent disease but also induce false positives to use low-value healthcare. Using data on individuals aged 40+ in rural South Africa and a multidimensional regression discontinuity design, we estimate effects of clinical referral based on blood pressure (BP) above...

Anecdotally, physical activity appears to be a textbook example of time inconsistency, which is the failure to follow through on ex-ante preferences and plans. Interestingly, our longitudinal survey finds that, over a fortnight, exercising more than preferred/planned is actually more prevalent...