Category: Health Economics

Commentary, Health Economics

LONG-FORM COMMENTARY: Saving the Lungs of 1.4 Billion: India and the Need for Air Pollution Control

Karthick Arunachalam

Raina Talwar Bhatia, Stanford University -- Air pollution has become one of the most pressing issues of our time, both from a health and economic perspective. According to the WHO, air pollution is responsible for approximately seven million deaths globally. Nine out of ten humans currently breathe ‘polluted air’ (as per WHO guidelines), with inhabitants of low and middle-income countries feeling the greatest consequences. Although the health effects of air pollution are well-documented, much less attention is given to its economic consequences. The total global cost of air pollution in 2015 was $330 billion and is expected to rise to $3.3 trillion by 2060 based on the current trajectory. Alongside the healthcare costs, air pollution decreases agricultural productivity, increases absenteeism and reduces productivity in the workplace, and creates greater resident interest in emigration and immigration. While all low and middle-income countries are disproportionately impacted by air pollution, none draw the concern and attention of the international community and health experts like India.

Health Economics

The Effect of Primary Care Provider Supply on Downstream Emergency Department Visits for Pediatric Asthma in California

Karthick Arunachalam

Jashdeep Dhillon, University of California, Berkeley -- California is facing a primary care workforce shortage. Although this has been studied at the state level, it is important to understand the downstream health implications: how will this affect the management of chronic illnesses or how will this affect access to primary care? Due to the significance of investing in childhood health, I exploit different healthcare access features (i.e. the number of primary care physicians) across California’s counties with a variety of socioeconomic variables to investigate the effect of the supply of primary care providers on emergency department visits for pediatric asthma.

Announcements, Health Economics, Politics, Uncategorized

Our Winter 2023 Issue

Karthick Arunachalam

On behalf of the Stanford Economic Review Editorial Board, I am pleased to present the eleventh volume, winter issue, of Stanford University’s undergraduate economics journal. Building on our momentum from last year, our publication has continued expanding its global reach over the course of the 2022-2023 academic year. As our readership climbs to new heights,… Continue reading Our Winter 2023 Issue

Commentary, Health Economics

COMMENTARY: That Time a South American Country Fought Big Tobacco—and Won

Karthick Arunachalam

VinhHuy Le, Stanford University -- In 2010, the world’s largest tobacco conglomerate descended on an international courtroom ready to fight. Philip Morris International, the company behind cigarette brands like Malboro and Chesterfield, sued the South American country of Uruguay for $25 million. But why pick on a country whose entire GDP at the time was half the size of Philip Morris’ net worth?

Commentary, Health Economics

COMMENTARY: Bigger Is Not Always Better: The True Impact of Hospital Mergers

Karthick Arunachalam

Richa Upadhyay, Stanford University -- Most people can name the nation’s most prominent health systems such as Kaiser Permanente, Mayo Clinic, and Trinity Health. Hospital mergers and acquisitions continue to make the “household names” of healthcare stronger, but such consolidation often comes at the expense of consumers. More often than not, hospital acquisitions fail to improve health outcomes while raising costs for patients and payers due to decreased competition.

Health Economics

Labor Market Performance During the COVID-19 Pandemic: State Policy, Compliance, and Social Behavior

Karthick Arunachalam

Julian W. Klingen, Oberlin College -- The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in late February 2020 in the United States constituted an unprecedented economic shock, in addition to the tragic loss of life, and sparked a rapidly growing literature on the economic implications. Exploiting county-level data in the U.S. from January - August 2020, this paper examines labor market performance in structurally similar counties situated along state borders that were exposed to varying degrees of nonpharmaceutical interventions.

Announcements, Health Economics

Our Summer 2021 Issue

etang21

On behalf of the Comparative Advantage Editorial Board, we are pleased to present the ninth volume, summer issue, of Stanford University's undergraduate economics journal. This volume presents undergraduate work on a wide variety of topics, including environmental economics, political economy, and labor economics. Furthermore, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to exact a toll on individuals… Continue reading Our Summer 2021 Issue

Health Economics

An Update on the Substitution between Alcohol and Marijuana: Evidence from the Legal Drinking Age and Medical Marijuana Laws

etang21

Stephen Kisty, University of Pittsburgh -- This paper attempts to update the analysis that utilizes a regression discontinuity design to examine the effect of increased availability of legal alcohol at age 21, caused by the minimum legal drinking age in the United States, on the consumption of marijuana (Crost and Guerrero, 2012).