Centre Seminars

Rocio García Díaz, Associate Professor of Economics, Tecnológico de Monterrey (11/12/2023)

Persistent high out-of-pocket health expenditures in sub-sahara african countries - insights from Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda

Jeremy A. Lauer, Professor of Management Science, Strathclyde University (13/11/2023)

What are the policy levers for impact on health and sustainability?

Céu Mateus, Professor of Health Economics in the Division of Health Research at Lancaster University (09/10/2023)

Title: The DETECT study – an economic evaluation of direct costs and productivity losses

Lathika Athauda, Senior Lecturer, Department of Public Health, University of Kelaniya (11/09/2023)

Title: ‘It’s normal to drink, isn’t it? Determinants of adolescent drinking in Sri Lanka

Bernardo Andretti, Research Fellow at University College London (10/07/2023)

Title: Demand-Side Nutritional Inequality? How Poverty and Wealth Shape Healthy Eating

Abstract: Poor consumers around the world display unhealthier diets than the wealthy. This nutritional inequality is often attributed to supply-side factors such as the higher prices and the lower availability of healthy foods in deprived neighborhoods.

Charitini Stavropoulou, Reader in Health Services Research, City, University of London (12/06/2023)

Title: Funding of Early Career Researchers: Evidence from the UK’s Medical Research Council

Authors: Dr Charitini Stavropoulou (City, University of London) and Dr Ian Viney (Medical Research Council)

Abstract: We investigate the effect of public funding on early career researchers, defined as those applying to secure their first grant as Principal Investigators.

Maxime Roche, PhD student, Imperial College Business School (17/05/2023)

Title: Can value-added taxes promote healthier diets? An ex-ante evaluation in Costa Rica

Abstract: In February 2023, Costa Rica implemented a new basic tax basket of foods (CBT in Spanish) on which a reduced value-added tax (VAT) rate applies to promote a more balanced diet.

Matteo M Galizzi, Associate Professor of Behavioural Science, London School of Economics 24/04/2023

Title: What have we learned from behavioural economics for the COVID-19 responses?

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has provided an unprecedented opportunity for behavioural economics (that is, the interdisciplinary field that combines and cross-fertilises insights from economics and psychology) to make a difference for future pandemic responses.

Elisa Pineda, Research Fellow, Imperial College London (13/03/2023)

Title: Healthy and environmentally sustainable food environments: A multiphase optimization strategy and randomised controlled trial intervention in Mexico

Abstract: Mexico has one of the highest rates of obesity worldwide—75% of the population presents obesity or overweight. Diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are particularly high in the north of the country where the Sonoran Desert is located.

Matthias Hofer, Research Associate, Imperial College Business School (13/02/23)

Title: Developing evidence-based policy recommendations to improve the competitiveness of the UK pharma/biopharma sector

Abstract: We report on initial findings from research funded by the Gatsby Foundation to find ways of improving the competitiveness of the UK biopharma/pharma sector.

Ellen Green, Associate Professor,  College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University

Date: 12/12/22

Time: 12:30-13:30

Title: Subjective expectations and uncertainty: A study of the deceased-donor transplantation process

Abstract: Identifying allocation mechanisms to reduce the discard rate of deceased-donor kidneys is a focus of policy makers; however, many of the leading solutions assume strategic behavior with full information. We constructed a novel data set to investigate the accuracy of surgeon beliefs. We then study the extent that inaccurate beliefs factored into doctors' decision to accept a deceased-donor kidney between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2020. Overall, we found that doctors' beliefs about patient outcomes based on deceased-donor kidney quality was  heterogeneous across doctors, while patient outcomes did not differ. We then showed that doctors' beliefs predicted acceptance rates. Those whose predictions about outcomes deviated from the objective data more were less likely to accept a deceased-donor kidney. Our results suggest that doctors lack some of the appropriate information to behave strategically and caution the implementation of proposed mechanisms because the underlying assumptions used in their analysis may not hold.

Xinrong Zhu, Assistant Professor in Marketing, Imperial College London

Date: 07/12/22

Time: 12:30-13:30

Title: Inference and Impact of Category Captaincy

Abstract: This paper studies category captaincy, a vertical relationship whereby retailers delegate pricing and assortment decisions of an entire product category to one of the leading manufacturers within the category. These confidential contracts have raised anti-trust concerns, however, empirical analysis has been limited. I develop strategies to infer the prevalence of such contracts and to quantify their impact on prices, market shares, and profits of manufacturers and retailers. I apply my strategies to the yogurt category, where the captain is either Dannon or Yoplait---the top two national brands. My approach is to first estimate a random-coefficient demand model using Nielsen scanner data. I use estimates of the brand-retailer specific shocks to classify retailers into one of three categories: Dannon-captained retailers, Yoplait-captained retailers, or non-captained retailers. I then apply conduct tests to infer that captains eliminate double markups from their own products, while the non-captain products still have double markups. My results suggest that about 70% of retailers engage in captaincy arrangements. Finally, counterfactual experiments show that category captaincy relationships increase the market share of the captain by about 50%, but they can also increase retailer profits and consumer welfare by eliminating double markups on the captain’s products.

Sarah Mounsey, Post-doctoral Research Associate in Economics, Imperial College London

Date: 02/11/22

Time: 12:30-13:30

Title: Fiji’s SSB tax: a mixed method analysis

Abstract: Globally, health taxes have proved a popular and effective intervention for reducing non-communicable disease (NCDs). Specifically, implementation of taxes on SSBs/energy-dense food has significantly increased in the last two decades in countries around the world. With their implementation, several parallels to tobacco and alcohol taxes can be seen. First, these taxes are recommended as part of a comprehensive package of policy tools targeting reduced consumption. Second, they have been largely successful in reducing demand and hence diet-related NCD risk factors and third, they are effective at generating significant revenue. Despite the growing number of governments adopting this administratively feasible policy tool there are still policy makers who hesitate, primarily due to uncertainty around industry claims of job loss and economic downturn. Furthermore, industries involved in the manufacture and supply of these products fiercely oppose taxes based on the broad argument of decreased sales and thus, reduced profits. Evidently, this creates a tension between health and economics goals. Thus, effective and sustainable design and implementation of health taxes must be underpinned by a more nuanced understanding of the political and economic drivers influencing the policy process and the key actors involved as well as evidence of potential change associated with the policy. This presentation highlights how industry, with a narrow goal of financial profit, creates and influences significant and wide-ranging opposition for the effective implementation of health and fiscal policy. Then, for a case study country (Fiji), the presentation explores findings from analyses of policy, political economy analysis. corporate political activity and modelling, opportunities for policy makers to strengthen and/or scale up fiscal policy interventions despite the negative industry influence. The presentations illustrate important lessons for similar settings seeking to strengthen or scale-up the impact of diet-related fiscal policy.

Stephen Jan, Professor of Health Economics, George Institute

Date: 13/10/22

Time: 13:30 – 14:30

Title: Promoting the agenda for universal health coverage: What evidence do we need?

Abstract: Universal health coverage – the ideal that citizens have access to health services of reasonable quality – is a common goal across health systems around the world. It is embedded in the UN 2030 Sustainable Development goals and in 2023 the UN General Assembly will host its Second High Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage. The presentation will provide an overview of a long-term research program aimed at informing policies and programs to work to toward this goal. An outline of a series of studies conducted across different disease areas and across different settings will be presented. The focus of this work has been to assess the financial burden of chronic diseases and related questions about the impact of such costs on outcomes such impoverishment, treatment abandonment, their differential impact across population groups, the potential for health insurance coverage to protect against such impacts and the effect of specific program and policies on some of these outcomes. The presentation will present an agenda for research spanning observational studies, evidence reviews and impact evaluations to identify measures needed to expand access to care and achieve the policy goal of universal health coverage.  

Mujaheed Shaikh, Professor of Health Governance, Hertie School

Date: 22/09/2022

Time: 13.00-14.00

Title: Vaccination mandates: A double-edged sword

Abstract: While countries directed unprecedented efforts towards the development and rapid administration of vaccines against COVID-19, population coverage rates remain suboptimal. In the United States, despite early access, sufficient supply and a swift initial roll-out of vaccines, large disparities between counties were quickly visible. Where recommendation policies have not been successful in incentivizing vaccination behaviours, health systems have enacted a range of instruments ranging from vaccine passports for international travel and access to public spaces, to employer vaccine mandates. Despite public opposition, several countries have introduced vaccine mandates differing in their scope as well as strictness. In this study, we assess the effect of vaccination mandates on vaccination uptake taking advantage of the staggered roll-out of vaccine mandates for state employees across states in the US. The variation in the timing of implementation of the mandates enables us to estimate the causal impact of vaccination mandates on vaccination uptake using a difference-in-differences approach. We also examine heterogeneity in the effect of vaccine mandates by race, income, education and household difficulty in meeting expenses. Finally, we investigate potential mechanisms and present evidence of the role of trust and the specific design of the vaccine mandate policy in the US that can explain our findings.

Katharina Blankart, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, University of Duisburg-Essen

Date: 22/06/2022

Time: 12.30-13.30

Title: The effects of off-label drug use on disability and health care use

Abstract: In 2015, 44% of prescriptions consumed by non-institutionalized Americans were used for off-label indications. We exploit a novel publicly available data source that links health conditions to indicated medical treatments by active pharmaceutical ingredient to data that captures health care use and disability according to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Using drugs on-label compared to off-label use substantially reduces health care use and disability. Off-label use is substantially higher in smaller markets by number of individuals and use in children or adolescents compared to adults, confirming previous findings that incentives to innovate are stronger in larger markets. Full link could be found here: https://uni-duisburg-essen.sciebo.de/s/BodKwWQ5Q5LiFZU

Jackie Bertoldo, Associate Director of Nutrition & Food Choice Architecture, Stanford University

Date: 01/06/2022

Time: 16.00-17.00

Title: Transforming University Food Systems: Cultivating the Long-Term Well-Being of People and the Planet – One Student, One Meal at a Time

Abstract: The Menus of Change University Research Collaborative (MCURC), co-founded by Stanford University and the Culinary Institute of America, is a nationwide network of colleges and universities using campus dining halls as living laboratories for behavior change. These are dynamic learning environments where applied research is bridged with operational innovation to advance the Menus of Change Principles of Healthy, Sustainable Menus. Together we serve over 800,000 meals each day, representing 15 billion meals over the course of our students’ lifetimes. They will be tomorrow’s leaders, parents, consumers, and citizens. The impact we have on their eating habits will not only have a tremendous impact today, but can transform the food system for the future. Our groundbreaking research pipeline focuses on plant-forward diets, food waste reduction, and the drivers of consumer food choices. We also co-create educational resources related to accelerating the implementation of the Menus of Change Principles of Healthy, Sustainable Menus across the foodservice industry. The Collaborative is an extension of Menus of Change®: The Business of Healthy, Sustainable, Delicious Food Choices, a groundbreaking initiative from The Culinary Institute of America and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Menus of Change works to realize a long-term, practical vision integrating optimal nutrition and public health, environmental stewardship and restoration, and social responsibility concerns within the foodservice industry and the culinary profession.

Mario Martinez-Jimenez, Visiting Researcher, Imperial College London

Date: 07/03/2022

Time: 14.00-15.00

Title: The Long-term Effects of Parental Unemployment

Abstract: While the effects of unemployment on the health of the unemployed is well-documented, its long-term spillover effects on the health of their relatives, especially children, remain poorly understood. This research focuses on the effects of parental unemployment spells experienced during early, mid and late childhood on the long-term children’s mental and physical health. The analysis exploits data drawn from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS), linking detailed parental socioeconomic information with their children. This paper employs a Correlated Random Effects (CRE) probit model that allows accounting for unobserved heterogeneity as well as a non-linear Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) random effects estimator accounting in addition for the dependency structure of the data. Results indicate that experiencing parental unemployment during early and late childhood has a negative effect on the children’s likelihood of suffering from long-standing illnesses later in life, while experiencing parental unemployment during middle childhood affects the young adult’s mental health negatively. Moreover, experiencing parental unemployment during late childhood increases the probability of both reporting poor or fair self-assessed health and the likelihood of consume prescribed medicines in early adulthood. However, there seems to be a considerable effect heterogeneity by family socioeconomic status and parent’s gender, whereas frequencies of parental unemployment spells appear to be a potential mechanism affecting overall results. These results may help policymakers shaping appropriate policy responses to mitigate the psychological and physical burden derived from parental unemployment, especially among already disadvantaged households.

Stijn Maesen, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Imperial College London

Date: 14/02/2022

Time: 12.30-13.30

Title: How product characteristics influence the sales impact of front-of-pack health symbols

Abstract: Manufacturers increasingly adopt health symbols, which translate overall product healthiness into a single symbol, to communicate about the overall healthiness of their grocery products. This study examines how the performance implications of adding a front-of-pack health symbol to a product vary across products. We study the sales impact of a government-supported health symbol program in 29 packaged categories, using over four years of scanner data. The results indicate that health symbols are most impactful when they positively disconfirm pre-existing beliefs that a product is not among the healthiest products within the category. More specifically, we find that health symbols are more effective for (i) products with a front-of-pack taste claim, (ii) lower priced products, and (iii) private label products. Furthermore, these results are more pronounced in healthier categories than in unhealthier categories. Our findings imply that health symbols can help overcome lay beliefs among consumers regarding a product’s overall healthiness. As such, adding a health symbol provides easy-to-process information about product healthiness for the consumer and can increase product sales for the manufacturer.

Prof. James Barlow

Date: 05/07/21

Title: Is ‘repurposing’ old drugs a new innovation strategy for the pharmaceutical industry?

Alexa Segal and Dr Kelsey Case

Date: 07/06/21

Title: Did it work? An evaluation of the Bermuda Discretionary Foods Tax 

Dr Cristina Taddei

Date: 24/05/21

Title: Worldwide trends in blood lipids from 1980 to 2018

Dr Luigi Siciliani (Journal of Health Economics)

Date: 08/02/21

Title: How to publish in health economics? An editor's perspective

Dr Stephan Seiler (Imperial College Business School)

Date: 25/01/21

Title: The Impact of Soda Taxes: Pass-through, Tax Avoidance, and Nutritional Effects

Dr Zoë Mullan (Lancet Global Health)

Date: 11/01/21

Title: Global health according to The Lancet Global Health

Dr Laure de Preux

Date: 15/12/20

Title: Mobility and socio-economic factors during the COVID-19 pandemic

Dr Carmen Huerta & Dr Verena Zuber

Date: 16/11/20

Title: Does poor physical health reduce social mobility? Evidence from longitudinal and Mendelian randomization analyses using data from two UK cohorts