| 1. |
- Andersson, Henrik, et al.
(author)
-
Perception of own death risk : An analysis of road-traffic and overall mortality risks
- 2006
-
Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Individuals' perception of their own road-traffic and overall mortality risks are examined in this paper. Perceived risk is compared with the objective risk of the respondents' peers, i.e. their own gender and age group, and the results suggest that individuals' risk perception of their own risk is biased. For road-traffic risk we obtain similar results to what have been found previously in the literature, overassessment and underassessment among low- and high-risk groups, respectively. For overall risk we find that all risk groups underestimate their risk. The results also indicate that men's risk bias is larger than women's.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Bolin, Kristian, et al.
(author)
-
Informal and formal care among single-living elderly in Europe.
- 2008
-
In: Health Economics. - : Wiley. - 1099-1050 .- 1057-9230. ; 17:3, s. 393-409
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aims of this study were to analyse (1) whether informal care, provided by children or grandchildren to their elderly parents, and formal care are substitutes or complements, and (2) whether this relationship differs across Europe. The analyses Were based on cross-sectional data from the newly developed SHARE (Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe) database. We found (1) that informal and formal home care are substitutes, while informal care is a complement to doctor and hospital visits, and (2) that these relationships in some cases differ according to a European north-south gradient. Instrumental variable methods were used and the results highlight the importance of accounting for the endogeneity of informal care.
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
- Bolin, Kristian, et al.
(author)
-
Utilisation of physician services in the 50+population: the relative importance of individual versus institutional factors in 10 European countries
- 2009
-
In: International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-6962 .- 1389-6563. ; 9:1, s. 83-112
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We analysed the relative importance of individual versus institutional factors in explaining variations in the utilisation of physician services among the 50+ in ten European countries. The importance of the latter was investigated, distinguishing between organisational (explicit) and cultural (implicit) institutional factors, by analysing the influence of supply side factors, such as physician density and physician reimbursement, and demand side factors, such as co-payment and gate-keeping, while controlling for a number of individual characteristics, using cross-national individual-level data from SHARE. Individual differences in health status accounted for about 50% of the between-country variation in physician visits, while the organisational and cultural factors considered each accounted for about 15% of the variation. The organisational variables showed the expected signs, with higher physician density being associated with more visits and higher co-payment, gate-keeping, and salary reimbursement being associated with less visits. When analysing specialist visits separately, however, organisational and cultural factors played a greater role, each accounting for about 30% of the between-country variation, whereas individual health differences only accounted for 11% of the variation.
|
|
| 6. |
- Bolin, Kristian, et al.
(author)
-
Your next of kin or your own career? Caring and working among the 50+ of Europe.
- 2008
-
In: Journal of Health Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 1879-1646 .- 0167-6296. ; 27:3, s. 718-738
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An increasing demand for both formal and informal care is likely to result from the ongoing demographic transition at the same time as there is a further move away from the traditional domestic division of labour. Public policy-making that aims at increasing the supply of informal care necessitates knowledge about the relative importance of various incentives for individual care providers. This paper takes as a point of departure that the willingness to supply informal care is partly explained by the extent to which it adversely affects labour-market outcomes and analyses the effect on labour-market outcomes of providing informal care to one's elderly parent(s) among the 50+ of Europe. Data from SHARE (Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe) was used to examine the association between, on the one hand, hours of informal care provided and, on the other, (1) the probability of employment, (2) hours worked, and (3) wages, respectively. The results suggest that giving informal care to one's elderly parents is associated with significant costs in terms of foregone labour-market opportunities and that these adverse effects vary between countries.
|
|
| 7. |
- Carlsson, Magnus, 1975-
(author)
-
Essays on Discrimination in Hiring
- 2009
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis consists of four self-contained essays on discrimination in hiring. Essay I (co-authored with Dan-Olof Rooth) present evidence of ethnic discrimination in the recruitment process by sending fictitious applications to real job openings. Applications with identical skills were randomly assigned Middle Eastern or Swedish-sounding names and applications with a Swedish name receive fifty percent more callbacks for an interview. We extend previous analyses by adding register and interview information on firms/recruiters to the experimental data. We find that male recruiters and workplaces with fewer than twenty employees less often call applications with a Middle Eastern name for an interview. Essay II extends previous field experiments that study ethnic discrimination in the labour market by comparing discrimination of first and second generation immigrants from the same ethnic group. Qualitatively identical resumes, belonging to first and second generation immigrants from the Middle East, were sent to employers in Sweden that had advertised for labour. The findings suggest, somewhat unexpectedly, that first and second generation immigrants have essentially the same probability of being invited to a job interview, which in turn is significantly lower than the probability of invitation to interview for natives. Accordingly, the factor leading to discrimination in employers responses appears to be ethnicity per se and not an applicant’s country of birth, foreign mother-tongue, and foreign education. Essay III (co-authored with Dan-Olof Rooth) utilizes the extensive media coverage that occurred when the data collection of essay I and II were only halfway finished. This informed the employers that their hiring practices were being monitored by such situation testing. These unique events and the data from the situation tests are utilized to perform a difference-in-differences analysis of whether discrimination decreased after the media coverage. The results reveal no sign that employers changed their hiring practices after they became aware of the risk of being included in such a situation test. The policy implication of this relates to the fact that EU countries vary in the extent to which they allow situation test results to constitute evidence of ethnic discrimination in court. Our results suggest that the detection risk alone is not sufficient, but must be combined with some penalty to become effective, if authorities wish to use situation testing as a discrimination prevention strategy. Essay IV studies whether sex discrimination is the cause of sex segregation in the Swedish labor market. The correspondence testing (CT) method was used, which entails two qualitatively identical applications, one with a female name and one with a male name, being sent to employers advertising for labor. The results show that, on average, females have a somewhat higher callback rate to interview in female-dominated occupations, while in male-dominated occupations there is no evidence of any difference. This suggests that the bulk of the sex segregation prevailing in the Swedish labor market cannot be explained by discrimination in hiring. Instead, the explanation is likely to be found on the supply side.
|
|
| 8. |
- Kristensson, Jimmie, et al.
(author)
-
Healthcare costs for people aged 65+ two years prior to their receiving long-term municipal care.
- 2008
-
In: Aging clinical and experimental research. - 1720-8319. ; 20:6, s. 547-555
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND AND AIMS: More knowledge is needed about patterns of healthcare consumption at different times during old age, particularly with regard to the relationship between various agents in the healthcare and social services system. One aim was to investigate healthcare costs in the public medical healthcare system in men and women (65+) and, with regard to age, in the two years prior to the start of long-term municipal care and services. Another aim was to investigate patterns and determinants of costs. METHODS: The study comprised 362 people who received decisions about municipal care and/or services during 2002-2003, and data were derived from the Swedish National Study of Aging and Care (SNAC) and county councils registers about healthcare consumption. SNAC provided data concerning demographics, functional dependency and informal care at the time of the decision, which were merged with data from the Skåne County Council patient administrative system regarding costs in the two years prior to decision. RESULTS: Cluster analysis revealed 13% overall higher healthcare costs. Those involved were more often younger, men, married, and diagnosed with circulatory diseases, cancer, or injuries. Most (58% for women, 54% for men) of the costs for acute inpatient care occurred within five months prior to municipal care. Men had significantly higher costs compared with women for visits to outpatient physicians (EUR 700 vs 400) and inpatient care (EUR 4700 vs 700) 12-0 months prior to municipal care. CONCLUSIONS: A share of 13% had higher healthcare costs throughout the two years. Those involved were more often younger, men, married, and diagnosed with circulatory diseases, cancer, or injuries. Those older people at risk of high healthcare costs should benefit from systematic clinical assessments and more proactive and integrated care, to prevent escalating costs in the period preceding long-term municipal care and services.
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
| 11. |
- Lundborg, Petter, et al.
(author)
-
Gender, risk perceptions, and smoking behavior
- 2008
-
In: Journal of Health Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 1879-1646 .- 0167-6296. ; 27:5, s. 1299-1311
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The underlying reasons for gender differences in smoking behavior, and thus for the recent trends, are not well understood. Using a sample of 8592 Swedish adolescents aged 15-18, this paper contributes to the literature by exploring gender differences in smoking risk perceptions and in the responses to the latter. The results show significant gender differences in the perception of smoking mortality risk and in the perception of the addictiveness of smoking. Girls perceive the mortality risk of smoking as significantly greater than boys do, but they also perceive the addictiveness of cigarettes as less. These results persist after controlling for a wide range of background characteristics, including smoking risk information sources. Moreover, the findings Suggest that while smoking information from sources such as teachers, pals, and own search, affect smoking mortality perceptions in a significant and positive manner among boys, no Such effects are obtained among girls. Finally, our results show that both boys and girls take both the addictiveness and mortality risk of smoking into account when making their smoking decision. Moreover, the magnitude of the response is similar among boys and girls. This is in contrast to the general belief that females dislike risks to a greater extent than males. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 12. |
- Lundborg, Petter, et al.
(author)
-
Getting ready for the marriage market? The association between divorce risks and investments in attractive body mass among married Europeans
- 2007
-
In: Journal of Biosocial Science. - 0021-9320 .- 1469-7599. ; 39:4, s. 531-544
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article explores to what extent married middle-aged individuals in Europe are governed by the risk of experiencing divorce, when shaping their physical appearance. The main result is that divorce risks, proxied by national divorce rates, are negatively connected to body mass index (BMI) among married individuals but unrelated to BMI among singles. Hence, it seems that married people in societies where divorce risks are high are more inclined to invest in their outer appearance. One interpretation is that high divorce rates make married people prepare for a potential divorce and future return to the marriage market. © 2006 Cambridge University Press.
|
|
| 13. |
- Lundborg, Petter
(author)
-
Having the wrong friends? Peer effects in adolescent substance use
- 2006
-
In: Journal of Health Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 1879-1646 .- 0167-6296. ; 25:2, s. 214-233
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Swedish cross-sectional survey data on young individuals aged 12-18-year-old was used to analyse school-class based peer effects in binge drinking, smoking and illicit-drug use. Significant and positive peer effects were found for all three activities. By introducing school/grade fixed effects, the estimated peer effects were identified by variation in peer behaviour across school-classes within schools and grades, implying that estimates were not biased due to endogenous sorting of students across schools. Further, endogeneity bias due to bi-directionality of peer effects was found for binge drinking and smoking. Controlling for this source of endogeneity resulted in even stronger peer effects.
|
|
| 14. |
|
|
| 15. |
- Lundborg, Petter
(author)
-
Smoking, information sources, and risk perceptions - New results on Swedish data
- 2007
-
In: Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-0476 .- 0895-5646. ; 34:3, s. 217-240
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Using data on Swedish adolescents, this study examines (1) perceptions of the addictiveness and mortality risk of smoking, (2) the effects of these perceptions on smoking behaviour, and (3) the role of various smoking risk information sources. The average respondent believed that 46 out of 100 smokers would die from diseases caused by their smoking. As to addictiveness perceptions, the average respondent believed that 68 out of 100 smokers trying to quit would not succeed. Both a higher perceived addictiveness and a higher perceived mortality risk were negatively related to smoking participation. The results showed substantial variation in the weight that the teenagers attached to the various information sources.
|
|
| 16. |
|
|
| 17. |
|
|
| 18. |
|
|
| 19. |
- van den Berg, Gerard, et al.
(author)
-
Critical Periods During Childhood and Adolescence : a Study of Adult Height Among Immigrant Siblings
- 2009
-
Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We identify the ages that constitute critical periods in children's development towards their adult health status. For this we use data on families migrating into Sweden from countries that are mostly poorer, with less healthy conditions. Long-run health is proxied by adult height. The relation between siblings' ages at migration and their heights after age 18 allows us to estimate the causal effect of conditions at a certain age on adult height. Moreover, we compare siblings born outside and within Sweden. We apply fixed-effect methods to a sample of about 9,000 brothers. We effectively exploit that for siblings the migration occurs simultaneously in calendar time but at different developmental stages (ages). We find important critical periods at ages 5/6 and 9. The effects are stronger in families migrating from poorer countries but weaker if the mother is well-educated.
|
|
