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Atlanta Marriott Marquis, International B
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American Economic Association
We estimate the effect of maternal education on the offspring's mental health in adulthood. Theoretical considerations are ambiguous about a causal effect of maternal education on the offspring’s mental health. To identify the causal effect of maternal education, we exploit exogenous variation in maternal years of schooling, caused by a compulsory schooling law (CSL) reform in Germany, which is completely unrelated to the offspring’s mental health. This CSL reform increased the years of compulsory years of education from 8 to 9 years. We exploit this CSL reform by means of a 2SLS strategy.
The data we use is the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and the outcomes for the offspring’s mental health are the Mental Component Summary (MCS) score, based on answers to the SF-12 questionnaire included in the (SOEP), as well as life satisfaction and an indicator for being at risk of a depression based on the MCS score.
Our empirical results suggest a negative effect of maternal education on the daughters’ mental health. One year of additional schooling for the mother decreases the MCS score of the daughter by about 26 percent of a s.d. and the likelihood of being at risk of a depression by about 11 p.p.s. We find no effects for the sons. Moreover, we provide suggestive evidence that improvements in the maternal home environment, as a result of the CSL reform, are not able to explain our results. Thus, we can rule out these as potential channels.
Medical Treatment Effects
Paper Session
Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM
- Chair: Scott Barkowski, Clemson University
Medical Marijuana Laws and Mental Health in the United States
Abstract
The consequences of legal access to medical marijuana for individual welfare are amatter of controversy. We contribute to the ongoing discussion by evaluating the impactof the staggered introduction and extension of medical marijuana laws across US stateson self-reported mental health. Our main analysis is based on BRFSS survey data frommore than six million respondents between 1993 and 2015. On average, we find thatmedical marijuana laws lead to a reduction in the self-reported number of days with mental health problems. Reductions are largest for individuals with high propensitiesto consume marijuana for medical purposes and people who are likely to suffer from chronic pain. Moreover, the introduction of prescription drug monitoring programs leadto a reduction in bad mental health days only in states that allow medical marijuana.The Effect of Maternal Education on Offspring’s Mental Health
Abstract
Worldwide, mental health conditions are a leading cause of disability-adjusted life years and health costs. The sum of direct and indirect costs worldwide were estimated to amount to 2.5 trillion US Dollar in 2010 and projected to increase to 6 trillion US Dollar in 2030. Given that societal and economic burden, it becomes increasingly important to understand the determinants of mental health.We estimate the effect of maternal education on the offspring's mental health in adulthood. Theoretical considerations are ambiguous about a causal effect of maternal education on the offspring’s mental health. To identify the causal effect of maternal education, we exploit exogenous variation in maternal years of schooling, caused by a compulsory schooling law (CSL) reform in Germany, which is completely unrelated to the offspring’s mental health. This CSL reform increased the years of compulsory years of education from 8 to 9 years. We exploit this CSL reform by means of a 2SLS strategy.
The data we use is the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and the outcomes for the offspring’s mental health are the Mental Component Summary (MCS) score, based on answers to the SF-12 questionnaire included in the (SOEP), as well as life satisfaction and an indicator for being at risk of a depression based on the MCS score.
Our empirical results suggest a negative effect of maternal education on the daughters’ mental health. One year of additional schooling for the mother decreases the MCS score of the daughter by about 26 percent of a s.d. and the likelihood of being at risk of a depression by about 11 p.p.s. We find no effects for the sons. Moreover, we provide suggestive evidence that improvements in the maternal home environment, as a result of the CSL reform, are not able to explain our results. Thus, we can rule out these as potential channels.
Influenza Vaccines, Employee Health and Sickness Absence-A Field Experiment at the Workplace
Abstract
While flu vaccination increases individual immunity by generating antibodies, individual behavior can counter these benefits. Vaccination rates fall short of levels that could prevent costly epidemics, and moral hazard can counter the effectiveness of the vaccine. We study how economic factors affect the decision to vaccinate, and whether changes in behavior affect the effectiveness of the vaccine. We partnered with a bank in Ecuador that allowed us to experimentally modify its annual vaccination program. A rich dataset of administrative records and employee surveys allow us to discuss the mechanisms behind our results on both determinants and effectiveness of flu vaccination. We find that opportunity costs play an important role in vaccine take-up. Take-up doubles by assigning employees to get the flu shot during a workday compared to Saturday. Peers’ take-up also increases individual take-up in a meaningful way. With respect to the effectiveness of the vaccine, while the time-exact data shows there is a negative correlation between getting a flu shot and cases of flu-related illnesses, the effect of exogenous vaccination is a precise zero. We present evidence consistent with a change towards riskier behavior that suggests that vaccinated individuals expose themselves more to the virus, and rule out other potential mechanisms.JEL Classifications
- I0 - General