Economics & Human Biology最新文献

{"title":"The impact of super apps on the nutrition transition in low- and middle-income countries: Evidence from Indonesia","authors":"Elza Samantha Elmira ,&nbsp;Asep Suryahadi","doi":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101524","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101524","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are experiencing a nutrition transition from traditional diets to high-energy, processed foods, increasing non-communicable disease risks. Digitalization of food systems plays a significant role in shaping this transition. This paper investigates the impact of super app expansions (including food delivery, ridesharing, and other daily life assistance) on nutritional outcomes. We exploit the staggered rollout of Gojek and Grab between 2015 and 2018 in Indonesia to estimate their effects on nutritional and dietary outcomes, combining super app expansion data with Indonesia’s Basic Health Survey (Riskesdas) and the National Socioeconomic Survey (Susenas). We incorporate baseline covariates using a doubly robust difference-in-differences approach to tackle endogeneity issues. The results show that super apps increase BMI, which adversely affects the incidence of overweight and obesity. The effect is more pronounced in cities and districts with online food delivery features. These apps disproportionally increase BMI among individuals who are already overweight/obese, younger, and more affluent (i.e., higher education, higher income, in employment), indicating higher usage among these groups. This is due to increased consumption of unhealthy food (i.e., salty and prepared foods). On the other hand, super apps have the potential to reduce underweight and improve dietary diversity. These findings highlight the role of super apps in the nutrition transition in LMICs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50554,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Human Biology","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 101524"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144922741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impact of Long-term Care Insurance on household income inequality: Evidence from China","authors":"Yuanyuan Chi,&nbsp;Qiang Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101519","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101519","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The stable performance of the national economy constitutes a vital component in achieving common prosperity. As a crucial element of the social security system, evaluating the actual effectiveness of Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) in providing a safety net for families has emerged as a core issue in current policy implementation. This paper explores the impact and mechanisms of LTCI policies on household income inequality, based on three waves of data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2013, 2015, 2018, and 2020, along with macro-level data from various provincial-level administrative regions. The study finds that the introduction of the LTCI policy has significantly mitigated the level of household income inequality in pilot areas. This mitigating effect exhibits significant heterogeneity concerning medical payment risk and across urban and rural regions. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate that LTCI contributes positively to reducing household income inequality primarily through two mechanisms: the social job creation effect and the reduction in family caregiving burden. Based on these findings, the research provides valuable insights for bridging income inequality and achieving common prosperity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50554,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Human Biology","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 101519"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145049557","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impact of new energy demonstration city policy on the mental health of middle-aged and older adults","authors":"Shenwei Wan ,&nbsp;Yanbang Zhou ,&nbsp;Lei Zhou ,&nbsp;Song Chen ,&nbsp;Fangxuan Qi","doi":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101518","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101518","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>China’s initiative to develop new energy demonstration cities aims to drive economic restructuring and green development by targeting urban energy use, air quality, and industrial impacts, yet its effects on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health remain underexplored. This study investigates these effects using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) from 2011 to 2020, focusing on 8988 participants and employing a difference-in-differences model to evaluate self-reported health and depressive symptoms. First, the research finds that new energy city projects significantly improve mental health in middle-aged and older adults, with participants exhibiting fewer depressive symptoms, the results validated through multiple robustness checks. Second, these mental health benefits are mediated by improved energy efficiency, better air quality, increased employment opportunities, energy transitions, enhanced social activities, and higher life satisfaction. Third, the magnitude of these benefits varies across demographics, with greater improvements observed among middle-aged and older adults with higher cognitive abilities, urban residents, and those in eastern China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50554,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Human Biology","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101518"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144780593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Public Policies and Femicides during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from São Paulo, Brazil","authors":"Maria Dolores Montoya Diaz ,&nbsp;Paula Pereda ,&nbsp;Fabiana Rocha ,&nbsp;Pedro A.C. Oliveira ,&nbsp;Isadora Bousquat Árabe ,&nbsp;Noemi Kreif ,&nbsp;Samuel Lordemus ,&nbsp;Rodrigo Moreno-Serra","doi":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101508","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101508","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, concerns arose that stay-at-home policies could exacerbate Violence Against Women (VAW). Evidence shows an increase in calls to domestic violence helplines in several countries. However, limited economic studies have investigated the pandemic’s effects on femicides, the most extreme form of VAW. This paper examines the effects of social isolation measures and emergency aid policies implemented during the COVID-19 outbreak on femicides in São Paulo, Brazil. Using daily femicide data from 2016 to 2020, a social isolation index, and monthly employment and emergency cash transfer data, we estimate fixed-effects models. Our findings reveal that the probability of femicide more than doubled (0.32 p.p.) during periods of pronounced isolation (March-April 2020). The impact was more significant in poorer municipalities, where male job losses drove this increase. However, the provision of emergency aid in poorer areas, which covered 29.8% of the population in these areas, mitigated this harmful effect, reducing it by more than twice the magnitude of the employment shock. These results underline the interplay between economic conditions, social policies, and gender-based violence during crises.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50554,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Human Biology","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101508"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144780592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Economic freedom and gender health gap in the E.U.","authors":"Matteo Migheli","doi":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101515","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101515","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates the relationship between economic freedom and the gender health gap across European Union member states. Drawing on data from the European Institute for Gender Equality and the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom Index, the analysis explores how liberal economic policies influence health disparities between men and women. While liberal reforms are often promoted for enhancing overall economic efficiency, their impact on gendered health outcomes is nuanced. The findings suggest that certain aspects of economic freedom, such as regulatory and trade policies, can either reduce or exacerbate gender health inequalities, depending on the domain and specific indicator considered. Notably, labour market deregulation often disadvantages women, while increased judicial independence and reduced trade barriers show mixed effects. The paper employs panel data econometrics with instrumental variables to address potential endogeneity, revealing complex, often non-linear relationships between economic policy and health inequality. These insights imply that liberal reforms are not gender-neutral and may require compensatory social policies to ensure equitable health outcomes. The study contributes to an underexplored area by highlighting the importance of considering gender equity in the design and evaluation of economic policy, particularly in health-related domains.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50554,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Human Biology","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101515"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144771034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"When the thermometer rises, the scales tip: Extreme temperature exposure and obesity","authors":"Akwasi Ampofo ,&nbsp;Rejoice E.A. Churchill ,&nbsp;Sefa Awaworyi Churchill","doi":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101516","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101516","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Obesity is a global public health issue, with over 1.9 billion adults reported to be either overweight or obese. Despite the high financial and health costs associated with obesity, the global prevalence of obesity across all age groups has been on the rise. Using the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, we provide evidence of the causal relationship between extreme temperature exposure and obesity. We show that there is a positive association between high temperatures (above 30<span><math><mrow><mo>°</mo><mi>C</mi></mrow></math></span>) and obesity. Specifically, an additional day of exposure to temperatures above 30°C in a year is associated with a 0.02 percent increase in BMI and a 0.2 percent increase in the probability of being obese. We find these effects to be pronounced for older cohorts, and robust to alternative specifications and falsification of our extreme temperature exposure measure. We provide evidence that the underlying mechanisms for our baseline relationship are reduced physical activities and low internal locus of control due to extreme temperature exposure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50554,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Human Biology","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101516"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144738951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Heterogeneous impacts of climate change on morbidity","authors":"Tamás Hajdu","doi":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101517","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101517","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines the effect of temperature on emergency department (ED) visits using administrative data covering 50 % of the Hungarian population and 3.52 million ED visits from 2009 to 2017. The results show that ED visit rates increase when average temperatures exceed 10°C, primarily driven by mild cases that do not result in hospitalization. Higher humidity amplifies the heat effect, which is also stronger following consecutive hot days. The findings further indicate that the impacts of climate change – both present and future – are substantial. Between 2009 and 2017, 0.66 % of the ED visits were attributed to temperature changes relative to the period 1950–1989. Furthermore, by the 2050s, compared to the first 15 years of the 21st century, the annual ED visit rate is projected to rise by 1.24 %–1.70 %, depending on the climate scenario. A heterogeneity analysis reveals that the effects of high temperatures and the future impacts of climate change are disproportionately greater in lower-income districts, areas with lower general practitioner density, and among younger adults.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50554,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Human Biology","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101517"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144738989","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impacts of a minimum pricing policy on high fat, sugar and sodium (HFSS) foods: Environmental, dietary and welfare analysis","authors":"Wisdom Dogbe ,&nbsp;Kaizhe Huang ,&nbsp;Cesar Revoredo-Giha","doi":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101514","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101514","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Foods high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) are detrimental to people’s health, social well-being and the environment. Minimum unit pricing has shown potential to reduce cigarette and alcohol consumption, but it is unpopular in the food and drinks sectors. This research aims to simulate the shadow price or minimum price for HFSS that could potentially reduce demand by 10 %, and estimate the impacts on nutrition, climate and economic welfare in Scotland. The Linear Approximate Exact Affine Stone Index (LA/EASI) demand model was applied to household consumption data from Kantar Worldpanel (KWP) to derive elasticities that were used to simulate the minimum prices for the HFSS categories considered. Greenhouse gas emission estimates were derived from the SHARP Indicators Database (SHARP-ID) to estimate CO₂-eq changes, and the log of living cost index was used to estimate the economic welfare effect of the policy. The expected minimum increment in prices with respect to the baseline price was approximately 28 % for edible ices and ice cream, 9 % for sugary drinks and 10–17 % for total puddings and desserts; biscuits and savouries; and confectionery, cakes, pastries and sugar morning goods. This had implications for non-targeted foods. For instance, the purchase of fruit and vegetables decreased by 0.47 % and 0.82 % respectively, whilst sugar and preserve purchases increased by 1.30 %, marginally discounting the benefits of the policy. On the positive side, purchases of meat, fish and alcohol decreased, and dairy product purchases increased. For the average per capita dietary carbon footprint, the policy reduced net average total CO₂-eq emissions by 0.7 %. However, consumers would require a 12.3 % increase in expenditure to consume the same basket of food as before the price change. In summary, although the policy is expected to improve climate health, there will be negative unintended effects on non-targeted foods, as well as economic welfare loss if consumers decide not to change their consumption habits. It is recommended that policymakers consider the net total effect of the minimum pricing before introducing it in the food and drinks sector.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50554,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Human Biology","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101514"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144722038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Individualism and support for COVID-19 government interventions: The moderating role of perceived economic risk","authors":"Ying Jiang ,&nbsp;Guikun Yin ,&nbsp;Qinglong Shao","doi":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101513","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101513","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Individualistic orientations in cultural worldviews significantly influence public attitudes toward government policies. We examine the impact and mechanisms of individualism on support for government interventions, focusing on the economic effects of COVID-19 containment measures. Utilizing data from the 10th and the latest 11th rounds of the European Social Survey (ESS), we find that individualism exerts a significant negative effect on public support for COVID-19 government interventions. Specifically, for each additional point increase in individualism corresponds to a 1.6 % decrease in the probability of viewing border closures as extremely important and a 1.4 % decrease for domestic movement restrictions. Our mechanism analysis reveals that individualism negatively affects intervention support by diminishing trust in government. Furthermore, higher perceived economic risk amplifies the negative impact of individualism on intervention support. Heterogeneity tests demonstrate that the negative influence of individualism is more pronounced among older individuals, those with lower income and education levels, employees in government and public sectors, and in non-post-socialist countries. We suggest that strategies to promote public policy support should be tailored to cultural and social contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50554,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Human Biology","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101513"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144703218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"More Than a Ban on Smoking? Behavioural Spillovers of Smoking Bans in the Workplace","authors":"Joan Costa-Font ,&nbsp;Luca Salmasi ,&nbsp;Sarah Zaccagni","doi":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101512","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101512","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We study the potential behavioural spillover effects of a workplace smoking ban (WSB) on a variety of health-related behaviours as well as on people who are not directly impacted by the bans. Drawing on quasi-experimental evidence comparing employed and unemployed individuals in Russia, we document that individuals who give up smoking are less likely to drink or cut back on alcohol consumption. Furthermore, we show that as expected the WSB exerts an impact on the health behaviours of those who are not directly exposed to the reform, such as never smokers. Finally, the effects of the WSB are driven by changes among men, 60 percent of whom were smoking before the ban.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50554,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Human Biology","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101512"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144680484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}