Access to energy improves households’ food security and children’s nutrition

Submitted by Petra Hansson on

 

 This brief is based on results from the study Impact of energy access on food security and child nutrition: panel data evidence from rural Ethiopia, EfD Discussion Paper 22-11, June 2022, by Tagel Gebrehiwot and Sied Hassen. 

Energy, Health, Policy Design

Behavioral Economics – Policy Impact and Future Directions

Submitted by Petra Hansson on

Behavioral economics - a field based in collaborations among economists and psychologists - focuses on integrating a nuanced understanding of behavior into models of decision-making. Since the mid-20th century, this growing field has produced research in numerous domains and has influenced policymaking, research, and marketing. However, little has been done to assess these contributions and review evidence of their use in the policy arena.

Policy Design

The morbidity costs of air pollution through the Lens of Health Spending in China

Submitted by Hang Yin on

This study is one of the first to present causal evidence of the morbidity costs of fine particulates (PM2.5) for all age cohorts in a developing country, using individual-level health spending data from a basic medical insurance program in Wuhan, China. Our instrumental variable (IV) approach uses thermal inversion to address potential endogeneity in PM2.5 concentrations and shows that PM2.5 imposes a significant impact on healthcare expenditures.

Air Quality, Health

Effect of nutrition awareness on utilization of Orange Fleshed Sweetpotato among vulnerable populations in Kenya

Submitted by Jane Nyawira Maina on
EfD Authors:

Malnutrition continues to affect many vulnerable populations worldwide, with the majority of these residing in developing and underdeveloped countries. This problem has been exacerbated by the changing climate and more recently by the COVID-19 pandemic. Urgent efforts geared towards enhancing sustainable production and value chains of nutritious foods to ensure access to healthier diets are therefore critical.

Agriculture

A behavioral economics approach for individual decisions in the face of COVID-19: Successes and disappointments

Submitted by Luat Do on
EfD Authors:

Dans le cadre du premier appel à projet « Flash-COVID-19 » de l’Agence nationale de la recherche, nous avons mobilisé des méthodes récentes de l’économie comportementale afin de mieux comprendre les décisions des individus face à la crise sanitaire due à la pandémie de COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) et d’identifier les paramètres pouvant influencer le respect des mesures sanitaires.

Covid-19, Policy Design

Nudging for lockdown: behavioural insights from an online experiment

Submitted by Luat Do on
EfD Authors:

Abstract. We test the effectiveness of a social comparison nudge (SCN) to enhance lockdown compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic using a French representative sample ( N = 1,154). Respondents were randomly assigned to a favorable/unfavorable informational feedback (daily road traffic mobility patterns, in Normandy – a region of France) on peer lockdown compliance. Our dependent variable was the intention to comply with a possible future lockdown. We controlled for risk, time, and social preferences and tested the effectiveness of the nudge.

Covid-19, Experiments, Policy Design

What drives the acceptability of restrictive health policies: An experimental assessment of individual preferences for anti-COVID 19 strategies

Submitted by Luat Do on
EfD Authors:

The public acceptability of a policy is an important issue in democracies, in particular for anti-COVID-19 policies, which require the adherence of the population to be applicable and efficient. Discrete choice experiment (DCE) can help elicit preference ranking among various policies for the whole population and subgroups. Using a representative sample of the French population, we apply DCE methods to assess the acceptability of various anti-COVID-19 measures, separately and as a package.

Covid-19