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 labour market participation 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: Significant demographic shifts happened in the 1960s and 1970s. While fertility steeply declined, women increased their educational attainment and participation in the labour market. Economic theory suggests that change in access to contraceptive methods for minor women is one of the main drivers of this phenomenon. I provide evidence to this theory by investigating the effect of the introduction of the contraceptive pill and abortion for minors on women’s fertility and educational outcomes in the Netherlands. Doing so, I revive the debate on the effects of the contraceptive pill, as current studies solely based in the US find it to be insignificant. While this study poses a historical question, my results can still be relevant for today's policymakers. If an expansion in female reproductive rights increased reproductive autonomy and educational level for women, a restriction on such rights might likely bring opposite results.
Abstract: Evaluations of Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) tend to find that women benefit more than men in terms of labour market outcomes. We examine the underlying mechanisms driving these gendered results by focusing on non-cognitive abilities, broadly defined as personality traits. We investigate two potential channels: (1) whether accounting for personality traits differentially mitigates selection bias by gender since women's productivity might be more difficult to measure, given that they experience prolonged labour market detachment; and (2) whether women derive greater non-cognitive benefits from ALMP participation, which translate into improved labour market outcomes. Using survey data from Germany matched to administrative data, we replicate the commonly found empirical result that ALMP effectiveness is higher for women than men. Furthermore, we find evidence in support of our hypothesised second channel, as women who receive short-term training exhibit significantly lower neuroticism levels in both the short and long term compared to untreated women, while men who receive long-term training present a significant increase in neuroticism compared to untreated men.