Trends in morbidity: national statistics on sickness claims among the working population in Sweden, 1892–1954

In this article national statistics from Swedish sickness funds are analysed from 1892 to 1954. The study is intended to provide better knowledge of changes in sickness claims, and to contribute to the discussion of morbidity trends. National statistics on sickness benefits are available from 1892, and are studied until the introduction of mandatory health insurance in 1955. Membership of Swedish sickness funds increased more than tenfold between 1900 and 1950. Just a small portion of members were women in 1900; however, women constituted the majority of members by 1941. There was a gender difference in morbidity, but this variation was not consistent over time. Before 1935 men had more but shorter sickness episodes; however, after 1935 women had significantly higher sickness rates. The law in 1931 meant that the recruitment of members was widened and compensation for longer periods of illness was made possible. The continuous increase in sick days can be partly explained by legislative changes; however, the increase in the period 1910–32 cannot. The study thereby highlights the importance of incorporating legislative changes into the interpretation. This increased understanding of trends in sick leave provides a sound basis for extending the study to the analysis of individual‐level data.     

Sickness absence in compulsory and voluntary health insurance: the case of Sweden at the turn of the twentieth century

At the turn of the twentieth century, Swedish health insurance was organised according to the Western European models of both voluntary, ‘fraternal’ principles and compulsory, ‘factory scheme’ principles. In this paper, we trace the characteristics of both organisational forms, and compare the sickness absence by considering the role of risk selection and mitigation across a large panel of voluntary and compulsory health insurance societies operating in Sweden between 1900 and 1910. We find that voluntary societies used a wide set of rules and practices in order to select and monitor members in order to keep down the number of sick cases. Compulsory societies applied shorter waiting periods and offered more medical treatment, leading to more frequent but shorter sickness absences.     

高职院校休闲体育教育对心理健康的影响

本文阐述了高职学生心理健康的现状,和休闲体育教育的特点对学生心理健康的促进,提出高职院校休闲体育活动应结合专业教育、职业素养培育,在情景教学活动中展开。     

The Role of Health Insurance Membership in Health Service Utilisation in Indonesia

In 2014, Indonesia implemented a new, nationwide, subsidised universal-coverage health insurance program, under which poor Indonesians do not pay to become members and others pay a relatively low fee. This program has created a national debate about the effectiveness of the ownership of health insurance in increasing the use of health services—particularly among the poor—given the limitations in their quantity and quality. Using membership data on different health insurance programs from the 2007 rounds of Susenas and Riskesdas, this article researches the impact of having health insurance on health service utilisation, by controlling the levels of quality and quantity of health services in the area. We argue that having health insurance increases health service utilisation by approximately eight percentage points when people feel sick (or by approximately five percentage points if we include those who do not feel sick).     

The health of left-behind children in rural China

Child health is not only a key indicator of overall quality of public health, but also vital for the future economic development of a country. In recent years, with unprecedented urbanization of China, many children in rural areas have been left behind while their parents migrate to urban areas to seek employment opportunities. Thus, it is considerably important for us to understand the effects of lack of parental care on the health status of left-behind children. Using data from China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), we find that the left-behind children in rural areas are significantly 20.0% more likely to get sick or develop chronic conditions than those living with their parents. We also find that girls are more vulnerable than boys and younger children are more vulnerable than older children to lack of parental care.     

The impact of COVID-19 on employment and income of vocational graduates in China: Evidence from surveys in January and July 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic shocked the economy of China in early 2020. Strict lockdown measures were implemented nationwide to prevent the further spread of the virus. During the lockdown period, many economic activities were affected, which had repercussions for the nation's overall employment. Vocational graduates were among the most affected by the crisis. To estimate the causal effects of COVID-19 on the full-time employment of vocational high school graduates as well as their monthly income and hours worked by week, we exploit variations in the intensity of the pandemic in time and across space using survey data from vocational schools from six provinces in China. The results of the difference-in-differences (DID) estimates indicate that being located in counties with high pandemic intensity significantly reduced both the employment in full-time jobs of vocational graduates as well as their monthly income. Our study's analysis demonstrates that the effects of COVID-19 on the labor market can be attributed to the large-scale contraction of labor demand of the enterprises that were hiring vocational graduates. To cope with this situation, vocational graduates took various measures, including reducing consumption, drawing on their savings, searching for new jobs, taking on part-time jobs, borrowing money, and attending new training programs. In addition, the empirical analysis finds that there were heterogeneous effects with respect to gender, family social capital, the industry in which the vocational graduate was participating, and whether the individual was in a management position.     

Health risks of exposure to waste pollution: Evidence from Beijing

Waste pollution is a major environmental problem in big cities in China such as Beijing. The phenomenon of “cities besieged by waste” has received substantial attention of local residents, social media and policymakers. We investigate the causal impact of exposure to waste pollution on the health outcomes of migrants, who are in a more disadvantageous position than native residents of Beijing. Using administrative waste disposal data and the China Migrants Dynamic Survey, we find that a one-standard-deviation increase in the level of emission from the nearest waste disposal site (WDS) increases by 10–11 percentage points in the probability of a migrant's sickness, but we do not find significant evidence when using the proximity to waste disposal sites as an indicator of waste pollution exposure. Our flindings suggest residence near WDSs poses a health risk.     

The effect of health insurance reform: Evidence from China

This paper estimates the impact of a health insurance reform on health outcomes in urban China. Using the China Health and Nutrition Survey¹ we find that this reform increases the rate of health insurance coverage significantly among workers in Non-State Owned Enterprises. The double difference (DD) estimations show that the reform also leads to better health outcomes: workers are less likely to get sick and more likely to use preventive care. Using an instrumental variable (IV) approach to look at the causal effect of health insurance, we find those with health insurance use more preventive care but do not report significantly better health outcomes, an increase in health care utilisation, or an increase in out-of-pocket medical expenditure.     

Long‐term changes in sickness and health: further evidence from the Hampshire Friendly Society1

This article presents new evidence on long‐term trends in sickness rates in England and Wales using data from the Hampshire Friendly Society. In previous work, Edwards, Gorsky, Harris, and Hinde argued that this Society contained a uniquely detailed set of records for the study of individual sickness histories. However, their initial findings were based on the records of a relatively small number of men who joined the Society at different points in time between 1871 and 1912. The current article draws on a much larger body of evidence, based on the records of over 5,500 men who joined between 1824 and 1939. It examines trends in the seasonality of sickness episodes, changes in the relationship between sickness and age, and cause‐specific sickness rates. The results indicate that there was little change in age‐specific morbidity rates over time, but morbidity did increase with age, mainly because older men remained off work for longer, even when they succumbed to the same conditions as men in younger age groups.     

Health outcomes,health inequality and Mandarin proficiency in urban China

We examine the health returns to proficiency in Mandarin in urban China using longitudinal data from the China Family Panel Studies. We find that greater proficiency in Mandarin improves self-reported health, mental health and capacity to perform activities of daily living. We also examine the relationship between Mandarin proficiency and health inequality and the decomposition results show that differences in Mandarin proficiency account for between 2% and 20% of health inequality in urban China, depending on the health indicator. Our results suggest that promoting ‘standard Mandarin’ can serve as a vehicle to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequality.     

Parental Behavior and the Value of Children's Health: A Health Production Approach

Data on individual children and on sibling pairs are used to examine how family resource allocations affect children's health and to estimate willingness to pay for reduced acute illness in children. Results highlight the importance of accounting for the endogeneity of child health and suggest that children with greater stocks of health capital whose parents invest in preventive and remedial medical care experience fewer days of illness. Estimated willingness to pay to avoid one day of illness-induced school loss is about $100 to $150, a range broadly consistent with limited prior evidence but substantially more than unit values applied in recent policy analyses. All else equal, willingness to pay is higher among single parents and for uninsured children, and the estimated income elasticity is only 0.14. Implied aggregate benefits of reductions in children's sick time associated with air pollution control may be substantial.     

农业示范区对新农村建设的文化示范作用探析——以杨凌农业示范区建子沟庙会为个案

文章主要介绍了农业示范区近年来出现的新职能即文化示范职能。这一职能中有些形式是早已出现的,如职业教育,有些是后来出现的如文化产业和文化活动。文化示范职能是农业示范区在应对社会经济变迁的自我应变机制下产生的,符合社会发展的一般规律。     

经济发展、危险行为与艾滋病传播

经济发展通过影响人们的危险（易感）行为来影响艾滋病的传播。本文提出的一个简单两时期代际模型表明：随着经济发展,个人财富的增加提高人们对于未来生活的预期,这将抑制人们的危险行为;但经济发展带来的应对疾病能力的提高又会增加人们的类似行为。因此,经济发展对于艾滋病传播的最终影响具有不确定性。本文在此基础上对中国各地区的艾滋病发病率进行检验,确实发现经济发展对艾滋病传播的影响不显著,个人财富确实抑制了艾滋病的流行,但未发现公共医疗水平提高对于艾滋病传播有显著正影响。     

Specialization and Welfare in the Presence of Imperfectly Integrated Capital Markets and Learning-by-doing

We study a two-sector, two-period model with learning externalities in the modern sector and imperfectly integrated capital markets. We find that higher capital market integration lowers the requirements on the learning pattern necessary for free trade to lead to an equilibrium with maximal specialization in modern sector activities. We further find that the equilibrium with maximal specialization in modern sector activities Pareto dominates, if it exists, any other free trade equilibrium, and that autarky can Pareto dominate free trade if capital markets are poorly integrated, even when there is maximal specialization in modern sector activities under free trade.

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Effects of Free Trade on Women and Immigrants: CAFTA and the Rural Dominican Republic

We construct a disaggregated rural economywide model with a focus on gender and immigration as well as on the allocation of time to wage work, household production activities, and housework (reproduction). We use this model to simulate the impacts of the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) on rural incomes and welfare in the Dominican Republic. We find that elimination of agricultural import tariffs hurts both agricultural and non-agricultural households, via adverse factor-market effects, but impacts vary substantially by workers’ gender and country of origin. Females and Haitian immigrants tend to fare better than Dominican males, and there are ramifications for both market and non-market activities.     

“村改社区”视域下公共服务满意度与优先序研究——基于成渝的微观调查实证分析

文章基于成渝两市的微观调查数据,运用主导因子分析、二值离散选择模型等方法,研究"村改社区"进程中村民关于公共服务满意度及其影响因素。研究结果表明:影响村民公共服务满意度的第1主导因子包括职业教育与务工培训、科技服务、法律服务、信息服务、政策服务、政府及村委评价等发展型因素;相对而言,民生型及设施型因素如医疗服务、卫生状况、道路建设、水利建设等因素降到了次要位置;而村民的个性类因素对其满意度无显著性影响。村民关于公共服务满意度影响因素的层次性反映出"村改社区"所处的特殊发展阶段和相关提供主体的作为。     

高职学生心理危机干预体系的构建

构建科学合理的高职学生心理危机干预体系,是完善高职学生心理健康教育系统的关键举措.当前,高职学生心理危机干预工作面临着缺少心理危机干预专业力量、缺乏心理危机干预可行性计划和心理健康教育力度不够等问题.要构建科学有效的高职学生心理危机干预体系,应从心理危机防御监控系统、干预系统及干预后期跟踪系统等方面全方位考虑.     

Community participation for health: The case of Latin America

Current efforts at involving communities in health activities are analysed from a number of perspectives. Participation may be mainly aimed at easing resource constraints, through involvement in the implementation of health activities. Examples are the construction of health infrastructure, or the enlistment of community health workers — though in Latin America strong medical resistance to delegation has severely restricted their tasks. Participation in decision-making has been even more limited, with the exception of some small-scale NGO projects. Examples are next given of the differences that arise between projects with governmental or NGO sponsorship, or with a conservative or progressive orientation. Finally, the structure of the community, and the socio-political context in which it exists, are examined for the different constraints and opportunities they present to community participation for health.     

Can Chinese banks compete after accession to WTO?

Our answer is no, not at least without fundamental changes on the roles of Chinese banks and on the current unfavourable bank regulations towards domestic banks. As a result of China's accession to World Trade Organization (WTO), foreign banks could compete directly with Chinese banks with little barriers from December 2006. We argue that foreign banks’ expertise and experience in modern banking activities coupled with their interests and regulatory advantages in the traditional Renminbi (RMB) business will lead to a loss of RMB deposits and loans from local banks. Given that Chinese banks are currently ridden with large non-performing loans and low capital adequacy, the foreign bank entry will exert further pressure on the banks’ profitability and solvency. It is likely that the health of Chinese banks will deteriorate further in the post-WTO era.     

A Dynamic Model of Health Plan Choice from a Real Options Perspective

This paper develops a dynamic framework for analyzing an individual’s choice between a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) and a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) under uncertainty regarding future health. We explicitly model health as a stochastic process whose fluctuations arise from three sources, one deterministic and two stochastic. Health evolves over time with a downward drift over the lifespan. In addition, health is subject to small, mean zero random fluctuations. Finally, there exists a small possibility every period of a serious illness resulting in a large, discrete fall in health. Under this characterization of health uncertainty, we develop a Real Options model valuing flexibility in health plan choice which takes into account the embedded flexibility to receive coverage for out-of-network care if the PPO health plan is chosen. Our model suggests that greater health problems increase the value of the option to go out of network for the PPO enrollee.