Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Many parents believe that vaccination provides little benefit for their own children, and instead only reduces the probability other kids get sick. A Kaiser Permanente study refutes this belief for the whooping cough: Compared to children who are immunized against whooping cough, those who aren’t vaccinated are 23 times more likely to get the infection — a…
At least that is what a study by Falk and Kosfeld (2006) found. The research question they tested was if the principal can set a minimum level of x, should they? An economist would say, of course. The agent has an incentive to not work at all. Setting a minimum level of work would guarantee a…
Yesterday, May 27, Clive Granger passed away at the age of 74. Dr. Granger was one of the most-respected faculty members at UC-San Diego. I frequently saw him around the Economics department even when he was in his 70s. Dr. Granger won the Nobel prize in 2003 for is work on the econometrics of time-series…
The latest edition of the Health Wonk Review is up at Boston Health News. It’s even Bruce Springstein themed.
When beginning your research, here are the questions you need to ask yourself [from Mostly Harmless Econometrics]: What is the causal relationship of interest? What specific mechanism will cause a change in the dependent variable of interest? Often one uses economic theory to predict these causal relationships. What experiment could be used to capture the causal effect of…
Case and Paxson (2009): “We document the impact of the AIDS crisis on non-AIDS related health services in fourteen sub-Saharan African countries…Regions of countries that have light AIDS burdens have witnessed small or no declines in health care, using the measures noted above, while those regions currently shouldering the heaviest burdens have seen the largest…
Health Plan CEO Compensation. How to produce drugs for developing nations. Obesity…not as bad as previously thought. “Overweight or obese had fewer complications and a lower 1-year mortality than those who were thin or of normal weight.” Sotomayor: Supreme Court nominee, diabetic. The Packers new 3-4 defense. Barça ganó el Champions. My favorite news magazine…
Yesterday, I attended a lecture by Peter Wagner about grant-writing. The talk focused on grants in the sciences, and I will pass on Dr. Wagner’s advice to my loyal readers. Three Golden Rules After writing each section of the grant, re-read it as if you were a reviewer. Finish the grant application at least 2…
Since 2004, every service man and woman killed in Iraq or Afghanistan has been given a CT scan. The military has a database of over 3000 of these scans. This information “…has revealed deficiencies in body armor and vehicle shielding and led to improvements in helmets and medical equipment used on the battlefield.”
Medicare Part D decreased the number of seniors without drug coverage. In 2006 only 7% of seniors lacked drug coverage compared to 24% in 2004.