TUBITAK- CAREER GRANT (3501) - Causal Effects of Education on Mental Health and Underlying Mechanisms -with Abdullah Tirgil
Health economics literature has been investigating the nature and direction of a relationship between education and health. Economists focus on the compulsory schooling reforms with the aim of identifying a causal relationship between education and health. Most of these studies provide evidence from developed countries. Also, as a result of the timing of the compulsory schooling reforms, they analyze the health outcomes of a relatively older sample who were affected by these reforms. In this project we propose to analyze how mental health of individuals are affected by education. Even though this outcome is as significant as the physical health, it was previously not studied as often in the literature.
In order to identify the causal relationship between education and mental health, we will use the quasi-experimental setting created by the 1997 compulsory education reform. We will use 2014, 2016 and 2019 waves of Turkey Health Survey- a micro data set collected and released by TURKSTAT. We will use Regression Discontinuity Design as our econometric model. In this model, individuals’ ages serve as an indicator of whether they were affected by the reform. Then, we will estimate the likelihood of graduating from at least middle school using the compulsory school reform as an exogenous change in people’s schooling. As the main outcome variable, we will calculate PHQ-9 score, an index used by the primary health care givers to measure depression and its severity.
The main purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between education and mental health as well as the underlying mechanisms. We will make use of the richness of the dataset and test whether the likelihood of receiving professional psychological help, environmental factors that may affect mental health or demographic and economic indicators are affected by individuals’ education as well. The project’s contributions are many: it will be first to analyze mental health in Turkey to derive nationally representative results, also to use an index similar to the one that is used by caregivers in order to identify mental health problems and to rely on an econometric technique which enables deriving causal relationship. It will also analyze alternative outcomes and related mechanisms.
This project numbered 122K095 received funding from Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK).
TUBITAK GRANT (1001)- The Labor Market, Income Losses and Household Production During COVID-19 Pandemic in Turkey - with Selin Köksal and Gökçe Uysal (principal investigator)
The social distancing measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic have substantially constrained economic activities both from the demand and supply sides. Consequently, the economies went into severe economic recession, and household income losses followed suit. Subsequent to the preliminary data showcasing the severe economic impact of the pandemic, the afflicted countries have immediately begun to implement policies to protect firms and households. However, the usual data collection mechanisms fall short of providing accurate and timely data, and the data quality is compromised by the social distancing measures. The situation in Turkey is no different.
The main objective of this project is to keep track of the labor market and to document the economic vulnerability of the households during the pandemic so as to inform policymaking. In order to ensure comparability, the questionnaire design of the survey (HCOVIDA) draws on the Turkish Household Labor Force Survey and Survey of Living and Income Conditions. Our survey collects data on three axes. (1) The labor market conditions of individuals (2) The income losses of households (3) The changes in household production, division of labor and gender attitudes.
This project numbered 120K577 received funding from Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK).
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