Research
Research
Abstract: Health screenings are potentially powerful tools to mitigate adverse health and labour outcomes. We conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the labour market and health effects of a diabetes warning in a country that has not introduced such a screening system. Using data from over 160,000 participants in Lifelines, a Dutch cohort study, and a multidimensional regression discontinuity design, we estimate the short- and long-run impacts of a diabetes risk warning. Individuals under 40 increase their employment rate following a warning, with effects that are especially pronounced and persistent for women. These employment gains are accompanied by improvements in self-reported health among women and reduced smoking among men. Among older individuals, the responses are more heterogeneous: Women are more likely to retire and reduce alcohol consumption, while men are less likely to receive disability benefits and more likely to visit their general practitioner in the short term. Our findings provide novel evidence that health information can influence labour market outcomes through gender- and age-specific behavioural adjustments.
Other work in progress
Abstract: This paper studies the Netherlands, where early access to the pill was introduced in 1970 and abortion legalized only in 1984, exploiting this institutional separation to separately identify their effects using a difference-in-differences design and a discrete-time duration model. Early pill access suppressed teenage fertility, delayed marriage, and increased educational attainment. Early abortion access had no effect on teenage fertility but shifted births from the early to the late twenties without affecting completed motherhood rates or education. Intergenerational effects are documented for the pill but not abortion. The two technologies operated as complements at distinct stages of the life cycle.
Abstract: Noncognitive abilities are increasingly recognised as critical determinants of labour market success. While an extensive literature examines how these traits influence employment outcomes, less is known about whether labour market policies themselves shape noncognitive abilities. This paper investigates whether the employment effects of traditional active labour market policies (ALMPs) can be partially explained by changes in noncognitive skills. Using the IZA/IAB Linked Evaluation Dataset, we analyse the impact of short-term training programs and wage subsidies on locus of control and the Big Five personality traits. We find no evidence that wage subsidies affect noncognitive abilities. In contrast, short-term training generates significant, gender-specific changes: women experience gains in emotional stability, while men exhibit increases in conscientiousness. Shifts in traits strongly predictive of labour market success may help explain the positive employment effects of short-term training, particularly for women. Our findings suggest that traditional ALMPs can influence labour market outcomes not only through human capital accumulation but also by shifting noncognitive dimensions of personality.