On the ability of the SF-6D to capture the consequences of chronic illnesses on subjective well-being: Evidence from France.

Using cross-sectional data from a representative sample of the French population (the 2008 Disability Health survey), this paper examines whether the SF-6D, a widely used preference-based measure of health-related quality of life in economic evaluations, fully captures the variation in subjective well-being (SWB) due to chronic illnesses. We conduct a mediation analysis to disentangle the direct and indirect, through the SF-6D, effects of various chronic conditions on SWB (happiness). Our results show that the SF-6D reflects changes in happiness due to most illnesses except mental illness. Changes in SWB mediated by the SF-6D account for 74% of the total effect. The variation unexplained by the SF-6D is significant and increases substantially in the presence of multimorbidity when a chronic illness is combined with anxiety or depression. Overall, our results suggest that the SF-6D incompletely captures the subjective experience of chronically ill patients, especially those with comorbid conditions.

Cyclical behavior of hiring discrimination: evidence from repeated experiments in France.

Our objective is to investigate if hiring discrimination in France has a cyclical nature using an innovative set of repeated correspondence tests. The methodology covers one type of job only, that of administrative manager, in both the private and public sectors, and two discrimination criteria, ethnic origin and place of residence. The empirical analysis is based on five waves of tests starting in 2015, covering the periods before, during, and after the first lockdown, with 4749 applications sent for 1583 job openings in total. Our results indicate that hiring discrimination based on the dual criteria of origin and place of residence has decreased in France since the mid-2010s, within the context of an improved labor market, but that it increased sharply during the Covid health crisis, in recessionary conditions, suggesting that it generally follows a counter-cyclical behavior. Overall, the temporal patterns of discrimination, as measured by callback rates, mirror those of the unemployment rate.

Is disability more discriminatory in hiring than ethnicity, address or gender? Evidence from a multi-criteria correspondence experiment.

In this paper, we conduct a multi-criteria correspondence test to assess the extent of discrimination in access to employment against candidates with a hearing disability and compare it to three other potential grounds for discrimination: ethnicity, place of residence and gender. From October 2019 to February 2020, we sent 2315 applications to 463 job vacancies in the Paris region in France for two occupations, administrative managers and caregiver assistants, in both the private and public sectors. We find that discrimination on the grounds of disability is similar in scope to that found on the grounds of ethnicity in the profession of administrative manager, but discrimination against the disabled candidate is half that experienced by the North African candidate in the profession of caregiver assistant. Moreover, discrimination on the grounds of disability is twice as high in the profession of caregiver assistant, a role which requires more interaction with public, as in the profession of administrative manager. We do not find any evidence of a difference in callback rates based on place of residence or gender. Finally, we cannot conclude that hiring discrimination is systematically lower in the public sector than in the private sector, nor that being eligible for a public subsidy reduces hiring discrimination against the disabled candidate.

The short-term effects of retirement on health within couples: Evidence from France.

This paper investigates the short-term effects of transition into retirement on health within couples using French household data. We rely on a semi-parametric difference-in-differences method to account for the endogeneity of the retirement decision. We compare the health trajectories of respondents who retire to those of respondents who remain employed over the same period after balancing their pre-retirement characteristics using a matching procedure. We also look at potential spillover effects within the couple by comparing health changes for spouses of respondents who retire to those of respondents who remain employed. We find that transition into retirement has a short-term beneficial effect on respondents' self-assessed health. Conversely, we fail to find any significant effect of respondents' retirement on their spouses' health.

The Roma vaccination gap: Evidence from twelve countries in Central and South-East Europe.

AIM: To investigate differences in vaccination coverage between Roma and otherwise comparable non-Roma children, including factors associated with the vaccination gap, health care access and discrimination faced by Roma. METHODS: We analyse data from the Roma Regional Survey 2011 implemented in twelve countries of Central and South-East Europe. Our sample comprises 8233 children aged up to 6 with 7072 Roma children and 1161 non-Roma children. Estimates of the Roma vaccination gap are estimated using Logit regressions. RESULTS: We find that the Roma children have a lower probability of being vaccinated compared to non-Roma (odds ratio=0.325). The odds of being vaccinated for a Roma child is 33.9% that of a non-Roma child for DPT, 34.4% for Polio, 38.6% for MMR and 45.7% for BCG. These differences do not appear to be explained entirely by their worse socio-economic status. The ethnic gap narrows by about 50% once individual characteristics are controlled for, with odds ratios of 0.548 for DPT, 0.559 for Polio, 0.598 for MMR and 0.704 for BCG. The probability of being vaccinated increases with access to health care, especially when Roma have a doctor to approach when needed. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings point out a large difference in vaccination coverage between Roma and non-Roma and support the need for better understanding of factors influencing vaccination among Roma as well as policies that might improve services for Roma in Central and South-East Europe.

Does smoke cross the border? Cigarette tax avoidance in France.

This paper examines the impact on cigarette sales of the successive increases in cigarette prices in France from 2002 to 2004. Since the price differential between France and neighboring countries increased over the period in question, cross-border purchases became more financially attractive for smokers living near borders. Results from difference-in-differences estimates indicate that the decrease in cigarette sales observed in French border departments was around 20 % higher from 2004 to 2007 compared to non-border departments. The loss of fiscal revenue due to cross-border shopping since the tax increase amounts to 2 billion euros over the period 2002-2007. Our findings highlight the need for improved coordination of policies aimed at reducing tobacco consumption across European Union countries.

Porous membranes for ballast water treatment from microalgae-rich seawater.

The ballast waters from ships pose a major threat to oceans, notably because of the spread of microorganisms. The present study evaluates the techno-economic feasibility of implementing the membrane process to remove microalgae from seawater to be ballasted in a single step during planktonic bloom. The optimal conditions for the microfiltration of complex and reproducible synthetic seawater are a permeate flux and specific filtered volume of 100 L.h(-1).m(-2) and 75 L.m(-2).cycle(-1), respectively. Recovery of the membrane process represents about 76.6% and 62.7% of the annual cost for a cruise ship (5400 passengers) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier (75,000 m3 of liquid natural gas), followed by the membrane replacement cost (13.4% and 21.9%, respectively). The treatment costs are competitive with conventional treatments, even when the membrane process is more feasible for cruise ships due to its smaller capital cost and footprint.

Parental wealth and resource transfers: How they matter in France for home ownership and living standards.

The role played by parental wealth in facilitating the life chances and living standards of offspring is a topic of growing interest in stratification research. For working and middle class households much of their intervivos transfers to children is provided in the form of assistance with a home purchase. This paper examines the impact of parental wealth and transfers of wealth on several aspects of the homeownership decision - the timing of the purchase, the cost of the home, and the downpayment proportion, as well as living standards subsequent to the purchase. We utilize a unique data set from France which contains information on parental wealth and wealth transfers from both sets of parents of a couple. We correct for possible endogeneity of parental transfers and model the joint determination of the downpayment proportion and home value. The results make clear the complex pathways by which parental wealth influences the tenancy arrangements and living standards of offspring.

The role of family incomes in cigarette smoking: evidence from French students.

In this paper, we study the smoking behavior of students aged from 18 to 25 using four cross-section data sets collected in France from 1997 to 2006. We focus on the role played by student income and parental resources. We find that both the probability of smoking and the number of cigarettes smoked are positively correlated to family resources. Among students, only wages earned and transfers received from parents increase smoking participation. However, sensitivity to income remains weak since a rise of 1% in income of either the students or their parents leads to an increase in smoking prevalence of about 0.15-0.20%.

On the reliability of self-reported health: evidence from Albanian data.

This paper investigates the reliability of self-assessed measures of health using panel data collected in Albania by the World Bank in 2002, 2003 and 2004 through the Living Standard Measurement Study project. As the survey includes questions on a self-assessed measure of health and on more objective health problems, both types of information are combined with a view to understanding how respondents change their answers to the self-reported measures over time. Estimates from random effects ordered Probit models show that differences in self-reported subjective health between individuals are much more marked than those over time, suggesting a strong state dependence in subjective health status. The empirical analysis also reveals respondent consistency, from both a subjective and an objective viewpoint. Self-reported health is much more influenced by permanent shocks than by more transitory illness or injury.

The impact of legalized abortion on child health outcomes and abandonment. Evidence from Romania.

We use household survey data and a unique census of institutionalized children to analyze the impact of abortion legalization in Romania. We exploit the lift of the abortion ban in December 1989, when communist dictator Ceausescu and his regime were removed from power, to understand its impact on children's health at birth and during early childhood and whether the lift of the ban had an immediate impact on child abandonment. We find insignificant estimates for health at birth outcomes and anthropometric z-scores at age 4 and 5, except for the probability of low birth weight which is slightly higher for children born after abortion became legal. Additionally, our findings suggest that the lift of the ban had decreased the number of abandoned children.

Housing and location choices of retiring households: evidence from France.

In this paper, a study is made of the mobility and housing choices of the elderly when retiring, using household data collected in France. From a theoretical viewpoint, individuals are likely to decrease their housing quantity because of an income loss when retiring, but they may also increase it to benefit from more housing comfort for leisure. Using the 1992 Trois Générations survey, it is first shown that housing mobility at retirement is substantial in France, with a variety of self-reported motives. Then, using the 1994­2001 French Europanel survey, evidence is found of both upsizing and downsizing for mobile recent retirees. In many cases, housing adjustments lead to a correction of the initial disequilibrium between the number of rooms and the number of occupants. However, a significant proportion of mobile recent retirees improve the quality of their dwelling.

Evidence on the impact of child labor on child health in Indonesia, 1993--2000.

Despite an abundant literature on child labor in developing countries, few papers have attempted to investigate the consequences of child labor on health. This paper explores whether child labor affects child health using data from the Indonesian Socio-Economic Surveys during the 1990s. For our empirical analysis, we restrict our attention to children currently enrolled in school and we use several discrete indicators for health. Our results show that child labor is associated negatively with health. We obtain this result by introducing labor participation as an exogenous covariate in the different health equations. Similar results are found once the work decision is instrumented.

European patterns of intergenerational financial and time transfers.

The ageing of the European population is expected to strongly influence both the structure of family relations and the pattern of private transfers between generations. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe conducted from the perspective of adults aged 50 and above in ten European countries, we provide an analysis of financial and time transfers, either given or received. Our results show that cash gifts mainly flow to the younger generations, while time transfers are directed both upwards and downwards. When comparing the countries, we find some remarkable similarity in the pattern of transfers, although there are inter-country differences. These differences sometimes follow the expected north-south European gradient, but not always. The results suggest that the social and demographic transformations currently taking place in Europe often have contradictory and paradoxical effects upon the nature of intergenerational exchanges.