Public, Health, Labor, Demographic Economics

• Sponsor: ARES
• IRES promoter: Sandy Tubeuf
• Start date:  2022
• End date: 2026

Project description

Benin is committed to provide universal health coverage (UHC) through the development of health insurance targeting the poor and the informal sector, as part of the Assurance pour le Renforcement du Capital Humain (ARCH) project. The ARCH health insurance was piloted in three health zones as of July 2019, and is currently being expanded to other regions. The overall objectives of this project are to contribute to the UHC and to the improvement of social protection policy in health in Benin, and to contribute to the visibility of ARCH's successes in order to build advocacy towards technical and financial partners for a concerted and coordinated aid intervention in the sector. Four research questions will be investigated: Q1. How is the health insurance component of the ARCH implemented and reappropriated locally? Q2. What are the effects of the implementation of the health insurance component of the ARCH on equity in access to care? Q3. How can the institutional sustainability of the health insurance component of the ARCH be guaranteed? Q4. How to ensure the financial sustainability of the health insurance component of the ARCH? These questions are addressed with a multidisciplinary approach combining legal, economic, public health and socio-anthropological sciences, in the spirit of health policy and systems research. 

• Sponsor: joint PhD under the Global partnership UCLouvain-KULeuven
• IRES promoter: Jean-François Maystadt

Project description

The proposed project seeks to quantify the effectiveness of the recent Global Magnitsky Act sanction regime imposed by the US and then, the EU and the UK on the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) in China in September 2020.

• Sponsor: FSR
• IRES Promoter: William Parienté
• Start date: 2022
• End date: 2024

Project description

The main limitation of many empirical studies is the lack of generalization of their results beyond the context studied. The objective of this research project is to develop new methods based on Bayesian hierarchical models to improve the external validity of empirical analyses. It will build on individual micro-data from a large number of experimental evaluations in development economics and apply and develop Bayesian meta-analysis methods to measure treatment effect heterogeneity and predicts impacts to other contexts. Similar application to labor economics results will also be considered. 

• Sponsor: ERC
• IRES promoter: David de la Croix
• Start date: September 2021
• End date: 2025

Project description

The aim is to determine the role of elite knowledge and upper-tail human capital (UTHC) in triggering the rise of the West. we propose to build a database of a large sample of academic scholars in Europe over the period 1000CE-1800CE. Sources will be primary (published cartularia and matricula), secondary (books on the history of universities & academies), and tertiary (biographical dictionaries). To measure the quality of scholars, these data will be matched with the existing catalogues of publications.

Second, we will build a geographical grid of the density, composition, and quality of the UTHC across time, and correlate the UTHC at the cell level with the adoption of new techniques and better institutions, and the development of literacy, numeracy, and urbanization. The individual character of the data will allow basing causal identification on exogenous variations in the European network of both individuals and universities. The migration pattern of scholars will be used to identify sorting and agglomeration forces, witnessing to the functioning of an academic market in the medieval and early modern periods. Families of scholars will be identified to assess the importance of nepotism vs human capital transmission.

Third, we will develop a new theory of the complementarity between sciences and techniques, to determine the incentives under which codified knowledge and practical skills interact, and ideas spread. A second new theoretical model will be devoted to revealing the dynamic interactions between conservative and modern forces within universities and learned societies; the key trade-off here is between vested interests and new paradigms, letting scholarly elites develop a culture of growth. With the data gathered, we will be able to measure the importance of these theoretical mechanisms and how the UTHC and society interact.

Overall, we intend to rethink economic growth by unravelling the rich interactions between scholars & literati and its emergence.

• Sponsor: FNRS CDR
• IRES Promoter: Luca Pensieroso
• Start date: 2020
• End date: 2022

Project description

This project aims at investigating the complex relationship between changes in family structure and the demographic transition in the 19th and 20th century. Using U.S. census data from 1850 to 2010, we will construct a panel database at the county level, to conduct a detailed empirical analysis of the relationship between fertility decline and the transition from the patriarchal to the nuclear family. Hence, we shall focus on the development of a quantitative macroeconomic model in which intergenerational coresidence, education, and fertility choices are all endogenously and simultaneously co-determined along the process of economic development.

• Sponsor: Bouse conseil de l'action internationale
• IRES promoter: Sandy Tubeuf
• Start date: 2020
• End date: 2023

Project description

This project funds a doctoral research fellow (Josephine Aikpitanyi). The project studies cultural and psychological barriers in the access to skilled birth attendance in Nigeria.

• Sponsor: FSR
• IRES Promoter: Sandy Tubeuf
• Start date: 2021
• End date: 2023

Project description

This project funds a doctoral research fellow (Alexia Bigorne). This project investigates the importance of gendered returns of risky lifestyles on health and premature mortality and measure their importance for inequalities of opportunities in health.

• Sponsor: Eastern ARC Grant
• IRES promoter: Joseph Gomes
• Start date: 2020

Project description

This project proposes to offer a new perspective on wellbeing by investigating its fœtal origins. In particular, we will provide one of the first estimates of impacts of climate variation in utero and in the early postnatal period on subjective wellbeing. Most of us would report feeling happier on a sunny day and this is ratified using reported happiness and sunshine on the day of interview. There are potential economic consequences of this behavior, for instance, previous research suggests that more optimistic financial decisions are made on the stock market on sunny days. However, there is limited evidence of whether variation in early life exposure to sunshine heat or pollution has persistent effects on physical and mental health. The proposed research will contribute novel evidence to a growing literature on wellbeing and mental health. It will also contribute to a multi-disciplinary literature on climate change and to a literature documenting large and irreversible effects of the early life environment on adult outcomes.

• Sponsor: BELSPO-Brain 2.0
• IRES promoter: Muriel Dejemeppe
• Start date: March 2021
• En date: 2025

Project description

This research studies the impact of the Belgian short-time work (STW) compensation scheme (knownas “temporary unemployment” in Belgium) on economic and psychological outcomes in the short and longer term. STW is a policy instrument installed at the federal levelto avoid the costly process of separation and re-hiring during the temporary reduction in production and demand and may thereby also avoid the bankruptcy of firms. From the employees’ perspective it avoids the social cost of unemployment and reintegration into the labour market. STW has had particular resonance during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the peak of the lockdown in April 2020, as many as 1.167 million people -about 30% of eligible employees -benefited from a Corona version of STW for at least one day. As highlighted in the Call for proposal, it is of high policy relevance to investigate the short-and medium term consequencesof STW on the labour market given the substantial public expenditure implications. Future reforms of the policyneed to build on sound scientific evidenceof the factors for success of STW arrangements as responseto cyclical fluctuations.Before completing, please read carefully the Information File Call 2020-2021, the Submission and Evaluation Guidelinesand the Budget rules.Do not forget to use the Gender Checklistto take into accountall the gender aspects throughout the proposal.BRAIN-BE 2.0 -Call for proposals 2020-20212/42The proposal will mobilize two disciplines(economics and psychology). We will look at similar research questions, yet from a different angle, with the focus in psychological research being how STW is appraised rather than intended or implemented. The research will imply cooperationbetween research partners of different communities and universities in Belgium. The team is well balanced in terms of gender and expertise. The economists Bart Cockx (UGent) and Muriel Dejemeppe (UCLouvain) are renown experts in the field of the evaluation of labour market policies. The psychologists Nele De Cuyper and Hans De Witte (KULeuven) and Florence Stinglhamber (UCLouvain) are renown experts in different disciplines of work and organisational psychology, including occupational health psychology, personnel psychology and career research. Beyond mobilizing two scientific disciplines to analyse the efficiency of STW arrangements, the project will address some specific research questions through a mixed methods study. In particular, to investigate the effect of the Corona STW scheme on the career prospects of the targeted employees from a broad perspective, both micro-econometric evaluation methods using register files and longitudinal cross-lagged surveys will be implemented. Their results will be thoroughly compared and discussed.

More info on this project

• Sponsor: IWEPS
• IRES Promoter: Muriel Dejemeppe
• Start date: 2020
• End date: 2023

Project description

This research seeks to evaluate, using microeconometric evaluation methods, the role of various and complementary support schemes for low- skilled youth integration on the labour market in Wallonia, a primarily French-speaking region in the southern part of Belgium. The set of schemes that are evaluated ranges from disseminating information in schools about job opportunities and labour market programmes for young school-leavers, hiring subsidies targeted at low-skilled unemployed youths, to financially support those who are long-term unemployed. The analysis is based on both a quasi-experimental approach (difference-in-differences and regression discontinuity design) applied to administrative individual data, and an experimental approach that randomizes information dissemination at the vocational high school level and allows to evaluate its effect on the labour market trajectories of young school-leavers.

• Sponsor: ARC
• IRES Promoter: Vincent Vandenberghe
• Start date: September 2018
• End date: August 2023

Project description

The provision of replacement incomes (pensions) for old people is among one of the main achievements of modern advanced economies. Historically, the State and other entities successfully organized the provision of public pensions. There is no doubt that this contributed to the wellbeing of elderly citizens1. It is also likely to have played a significant role in the reduction of old-age poverty. However, public pension budgets are now increasingly challenged by demographic and economic developments, namely rapid population ageing combined with slow(er) economic growth. Hence, policy makers around the world are confronted with the challenging task of reforming existing pension systems. This interdisciplinary research project aims at critically assessing the key conditions that a public pension system should fulfil to be successfully reformed. Our hypothesis is that there are three such conditions: i)financial sustainability, ii) social adequacy and iii) safe governance. Hence, the ‘SAS’ acronym. Our goal is to identify the pension architecture that is the most likely to generate SAS pensions. That researchwill rest on diverse approaches (conceptual,numerical, empirical and normative) to assess the properties of various possible pension architectures, through the prism of SAS criteria.

• Sponsor: Nartional Bank of Belgium
• IRES Promoter: Muriel Dejemeppe
• Start date: 2023
• End date: 2025

Project description

Economists have contributed important theoretical and empirical findings to the study of the effect of Short-Time Work (STW) policies, but a study of the effect of STW taxes remains undone. Like in other insurance schemes, governments have introduced experience-rated (ER) copayments to financially disincentivize such unintended use of STW. In the first part of the research, we propose to estimate the causal effect of ER on various behavioral reactions of firms and workers based on ‘reduced form’ econometric models. The behavioral reactions of interest are the extent to which firms reduce the time allocation of workers to STW (a benefit of ER), but also the extent to which they might increase lay-offs, and decrease their performance (costs of ER). In the second part, we propose to develop a theoretical model that can capture the essential trade-offs of introducing such ER. This is a necessary step for obtaining more insights into the efficiency of the current ER scheme and directions for improvement. To make policy recommendations based on this theoretical model as concrete as possible, we will calibrate it using the estimation results of the first part. 

• Sponsor: FRS-CDR
• IRES Promoter: Sandy Tubeuf
• Start date: January 2024
• End date: December 2024

Project description

Health and environment are closely related. Scientists credit environmental factors for increased incidences of health problems and deterioration of well-being, mental health and premature deaths. While the healthcare sector cares for all patients including those whose poorer health is due to environmental causes, this sector is also responsible for substantial environmental pollution. Healthcare provision generates greenhouse gas, fine particles, plastic and pharmaceutical or chemical waste leading to air, water, and soil pollution. Major action is needed to ensure sustainable health and develop new environmental-friendly care models. In this context, it is critical to understand the willingness of the population to change the way they will receive care in the future. The proposed project aims to investigate public preferences toward environmentally- responsible healthcare choices. Using participatory methods and literature review, we will design a choice experiment survey that will allow us to identify the trade-offs individuals would be willing to make when choosing between hypothetical treatment options. Our experimental setting will allow us to identify which sociodemographic variables, attitudinal and behavioral characteristics influence individual preferences for healthcare treatments. Furthermore, despite the global agenda worldwide with increased interest for sustainable healthcare, the commitments to sustainable low carbon health systems differ across countries. We will therefore run our experiment in representative samples of the population across three countries namely Belgium, France, and The Netherlands, and investigate whether the population engage differently from one country to the other. Overall, our project is expected to provide rich policy relevant insights into the willingness of the population to account for environment-related dimensions in healthcare and needed evidence to foster the consideration of health-related environmental impacts.  

• Sponsor: FNRS
• IRES promoter:  Sandy Tubeuf
• IRES researcher: Josephine Aikpitanyi

Project description

While the role of cognitive traits in utilization of healthcare services has been established, emerging body of research finds that non-cognitive traits play an important role in the physical and psychological well-being of an individual, particularly, in their decision-making ability.  The objective of this research is to investigate the role of non-cognitive traits in women’s healthcare choices and preference for place of childbirth. Using a discrete choice experiment, it will investigate women’s healthcare choices and preferences for place of childbirth in five communities in Southern Nigeria.  To identify attributes and levels, we will perform a systematic review of the discrete choice experiment literature in healthcare with a focus on women's healthcare choices. Attributes selection will involve stakeholders from various healthcare sectors to select the most relevant and actionable attributes, followed by three organized focus groups involving childbearing women in the communities to verify the selection and the clarity of the discrete choice experiment tasks and explanations. Standardised questions on non-cognitive traits, sociodemographic characteristics and household characteristics will be administered alongside the discrete choice experiment. We will analyse the data using qualitative and quantitative approaches, including multistage mixed logit models. The project will uncover how non-cognitive traits influence women's preferences for health care and choice of place of delivery and will identify areas where effective health care interventions could be designed in Nigeria. 

• Sponsor: ARES
• IRES promoter: Sandy Tubeuf
• Start date: 2022
• End date: 2026

Project description

Benin is committed to provide universal health coverage (UHC) through the development of health insurance targeting the poor and the informal sector, as part of the Assurance pour le Renforcement du Capital Humain (ARCH) project. The ARCH health insurance was piloted in three health zones as of July 2019, and is currently being expanded to other regions. The overall objectives of this project are to contribute to the UHC and to the improvement of social protection policy in health in Benin, and to contribute to the visibility of ARCH's successes in order to build advocacy towards technical and financial partners for a concerted and coordinated aid intervention in the sector. Four research questions will be investigated: Q1. How is the health insurance component of the ARCH implemented and reappropriated locally? Q2. What are the effects of the implementation of the health insurance component of the ARCH on equity in access to care? Q3. How can the institutional sustainability of the health insurance component of the ARCH be guaranteed? Q4. How to ensure the financial sustainability of the health insurance component of the ARCH? These questions are addressed with a multidisciplinary approach combining legal, economic, public health and socio-anthropological sciences, in the spirit of health policy and systems research.  

• Sponsor: FNRS - FRESH
• IRES Promoter: Sandy Tubeuf
• IRES Researcher: Luigi Boggian
• Start date: 2020
• End date: 2024

Project description

This project investigates inequalities in healthcare utilization between migrants and natives in Europe with a focus on the identification of barriers faced by migrants in the healthcare sector in terms of diagnosis and healthcare treatment.