EcoEchoes

Episode 22: Benoit Decerf and the trade-off between poverty and longevity

This episode's guest is Benoit Decerf, a Senior Economist in the Development Research Group of the World Bank, presenting his paper named "Attitudes on the trade-off between poverty and longevity". The discussion explores how mortality can be integrated into poverty measurement, the methodology used to estimate people's willingness to trade income for additional years of life, and the implications of these findings for policy and economic modeling. Benoit also shares insights into working at the World Bank compared to academia and provides advice for those interested in research roles at international institutions.
Guest: Benoit Decerf, Senior Economist in the Development Research Group of the World Bank
Hosts: Fanny Tallgren & Andrea De Palma
Disclaimer: The discussion from this podcast episode reflects Benoit's views, not those of the World Bank.
Timestamps: 
(01:19) Objectives and overview of Benoit's research
(05:54) Methodology for estimating the trade-off between poverty and mortality
(16:56) Key findings and cross-country comparisons
(32:55) Implications of the study and future research
(35:43) Working at the World Bank and tips for young researchers

Conference Review 3 - Lucerne courses

In our third conference review episode, Prithvi discusses with Fanny his experience attending two courses in Lucerne, Switzerland by the Swiss Society of Health Economics: one on Empirical Policy Evaluation and another on Machine Learning. The discussion covers expectations, course content, key takeaways, and practical applications of the methods learned.
You can find the link to the Lucerne website here.

Episode 21: Alexander Marin and the Dynamics of Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditures

We got the chance to record an episode with Alexander Marin and to talk about his working paper "The Heterogeneous Risk and Dynamics of Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditures" where he uses machine learning (multivariate random forest) and time series models (ARMA) to analyse healthcare expenditure trends in the US. We talk about how health care spending and the persistence of elevated spending following a health shock varies across different demographic groups, such as age, income, insurance status, and health conditions. We also briefly touch on the challenges of writing papers which are methodological contributions, and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. Lastly, Alexander shares a bit about his ongoing research related to the future of healthcare funding in ageing societies.
Guest: Alexander Marin, Postdoc at the University of Southern Denmark in the Interdisciplinary Centre on Population Dynamics
Hosts: Fanny Tallgren & Andrea De Palma
Timestamps: 
(01:49) Start of discussion of paper
(08:58) Methods used in the paper
(27:42) Results of the paper
(35:55) Alexander's work at the Interdisciplinary Centre on Population Dynamics
 

Conference Review 2 - NHESG2024 / Nordic Health Economists’ Study Group meeting

In the second conference review, Fanny talks to Prithvi about her experience at the Nordic Health Economists’ Study Group meeting which took place in August 2024 at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio, Finland. 
You can find the link to the 2024 NHESG website here.
If you would like to apply for NHESG conference at University of Oslo coming up in August 2025, you can do so using this link. Abstract submission deadline is Monday, April 14, 2025. 

Episode 20: Amitabh Chandra and the productivity of scientists

We had the pleasure to record an episode with Amitabh Chandra. We discuss his working paper "Productivity Differences in Fundamental Life-Sciences Discovery" co-authored with Connie Xu. The aim of the paper is to research whether a life scientist's university has an effect on their productivity. To answer this question, they first attempt to measure a scientist's productivity, and then use a movers design to estimate the causal effect of the university on productivity. We end the episode with a conversation about what makes a research idea worth pursuing as well as the purpose and art of presentations.  
Guest: Amitabh Chandra (Professor at Harvard) 
Hosts: Prithviraj Basumallik and Fanny Tallgren  
Timestamps:
(4:45) Beginning of the discussion of working paper 
(14:38) The results of the paper 
(19:17) Movers design used to estimate the causal effect
(28:00) What makes a research idea worth pursuing? 
(36:36) The purpose and art of presentations

Episode 19: Orla Doyle and early childhood development interventions

This episode's guest is Orla Doyle, Professor at the School of Economics at University College Dublin and Director of the UCD Childhood and Human Development Research Center. We discuss her extensive experience, both in conducting research and valorizing its societal impact through policy. An excellent example is the 'Preparing For Life' - trial, an early childhood intervention, of which the age-14 follow-up study has recently been wrapped up. Read more about the trial: https://geary.ucd.ie/preparingforlife/. 
 
Guest: Orla Doyle (Professor at the School of Economics, University College Dublin) 
Hosts: Andrea De Palma and Dyllis De Pessemier 
 
Timestamps: 
(00:35) Introduction and research focus 
(09:35) The role of economists in the field of early childhood development studies 
(12:11) The 'Preparing For Life' - trial 
(30:20) Societal impact of the 'Preparing For Life' - trial 
(35:30) Project management as a researcher 
(40:15) Creating positive impact through research 
(44:15) Tips for PhD students 
 

Episode 18: Alexander Ahammer on health and labour economics

In this episode, Alexander Ahammer, an applied microeconomist, chats with and Prithvi and Andrea after his presentation about his working paper "The labor and health economics of breast cancer" co-authored with Gerald J. Pruckner and Flora Stiftinger. The paper uses Austrian microdata to study how a breast cancer diagnosis impacts health expenditures and labor market outcomes. They find that a diagnosis increases inpatient health expenditure, imposes a wage penalty and reduces work hours in comparison to other women of similar age who do not get diagnosed with breast cancer. They argue that a potential reason for reduced work hours is a change in time preferences rather than incapacitation or employer discrimination. Ahammer also shares his research interests in general and gives advice for early-career researchers on finding meaningful research questions and improving presentation skills.
Guest: Alexander Ahammer (Assistant professor at the Johannes Kepler University Linz and a Research Affiliate at IZA Institute of Labor Economics)  
Hosts: Prithviraj Basu Mallik and Andrea De Palma
  
Timestamps: 
(01:14) Ahammer introduces himself and summarizes the paper
(07:00) The paper's research methodology and data 
(14:17) Ahammer’s broader research agenda
(18:23) Discussion of how to choose research projects. Low hanging fruit vs "big" research ideas
(23:40) The importance of presentation skills and telling a story
 
If you would like to donate for breast cancer research, we have put a link for you here. 

Conference Review 1: lolaHESG

Happy New Year and welcome back! 
In this short episode, Fanny and Prithvi share their own experience at the Lowlands Health Economists' Study Group (lolaHESG) conference, outlining how the program is structured and highlighting key activities and tips on how to make the best of the experience. 
This episode marks the start of a series of conference reviews, so stay tuned for more firsthand insights!
 
 

Episode 17: Sofía Fernández-Guerrico on how Internet access and trade can impact health

This episode features Sofía Fernández-Guerrico, assistant professor of Economics at the University of Konstanz, discussing her research on the intersection of labor markets, technology, and health. The conversation revolves around her studies on the effects of broadband Internet on mental health, trade liberalization's impact on health in Mexico, and the broader implications of work-related and societal changes on well-being. The discussion concludes with reflections on mental health in academia.
 
Guest: Sofía Fernández-Guerrico (Assistant professor at the University of Konstanz)  
Hosts: María-José Mendoza and Fanny Tallgren
  
Timestamps: 
(00:38) Sofía introduces herself and her research in Labor and Health Economics 
(03:09) How Internet access shapes mental health: research context and design
(12:10) Unpacking the mechanisms: the impact of Internet access on mental health
(27:44) The importance of “right to disconnect” policies for mental health
(30:23) Trade liberalization’s health consequences in Mexico
(39:39) Reflections on mental health in academia and tips for early-career researchers 
 
References:
Article: The Effect of Broadband Expansion on Mental Health (with Ilan Tojerow) (work in progress)
Guerrico, S. F. (2021). The effects of trade-induced worker displacement on health and mortality in Mexico. Journal of health economics, 80, 102538.
Podcast episodes: How to thrive at work and How to fail at work
 

Episode 16: Carlos Riumallo Herl on how to encourage people to go for screenings!

This episode's guest is Carlos Riumallo Herl, who is an assistant professor at the Erasmus School of Economics. His research focuses on healthy ageing and the role of prevention, especially in low- and middle income countries. We discuss one of his most recent publications, shared work with Mylene Lagarde, which explores the impact of individual and group incentives to encourage cardiovascular check-ups in El Salvador. We discuss his experiences with field experiments and he shares tips and tricks on dealing with different stakeholders in a research project. 
  
Guest: Carlos Riumallo Herl (Assistant professor at the Erasmus School of Economics)  
Hosts: Karen Trujillo Jara and Fanny Tallgren 
  
Timestamps: 
(01:00) Introduction and research focus 
(02:05) Discussion of recent publication, in collaboration with Mylene Lagarde: "Better together? Group incentives and the demand for prevention", published in the Journal of Development Economics. 
(03:38) Aims & objectives of the project 
(07:16) Group incentives 
(15:32) Discussion of the results 
(33:10) Experiences with field experiments 
(37:35) Managing different stakeholders' interests and expectations in research  
  
References: 
Article: Lagarde, M., Herl, C.R. (2025). Better together? Group incentives and the demand for prevention. Journal of Development Economics, 103365.