In this paper we investigate if there was a causal effect of changes in current and 'permanent' income on the health of East Germans in the years following reunification. Reunification was completely unanticipated and therefore can be seen as a providing some exogenous variation, which resulted...

We estimate the effect of stock market fluctuations on subjective wellbeing and mental health using Australian survey data over the period 2001–2012, which includes the global financial crisis. A particular innovation of the paper is the use of three satisfaction measures – overall,...

In this paper we investigate if there was a causal effect of changes in current and 'permanent' income on the health of East Germans in the years following reunification. Reunification was completely unanticipated and therefore can be seen as a providing some exogenous variation, which resulted...

The socio-economic gradient in health remains a controversial topic in economics and other social sciences. In this paper we develop a new duration model that allows for unobserved persistent individual-specific health shocks and provides new evidence on the roles of socio-economic...

We examine whether low self-esteem increases the risk of obesity in a panel of Australian adults. To address the problem of endogeneity, we look at weight changes following exogenous shocks to self-esteem, such as the unexpected death of friends and family members. We find that negative shocks...

This paper reviews the history of the practice of quarantines, rediscovering the 19th century 'Sanitarian' movement in Britain that sprang from a recognition that quarantines had failed to stop the spread of diseases and were not cost-effective. To our knowledge, the key figure among the...