Lifecycle Effects of a Recession on Health Behaviors: Boom, Bust, and Recovery in Iceland
This study uses individual-level longitudinal data from Iceland, a country that experienced a severe economic crisis in 2008 and substantial recovery by 2012, to investigate the extent to which the effects of a recession on health behaviors are lingering or short-lived and to explore trajectories in...
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ftrepec:oai:RePEc:cch:wpaper:150021 2024-04-14T08:13:33+00:00 Lifecycle Effects of a Recession on Health Behaviors: Boom, Bust, and Recovery in Iceland Tinna Laufey Asgeirsdottir Hope Corman Kelly Noonan Nancy E. Reichman http://www.canadiancentreforhealtheconomics.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Asgeirsdottir-et-al1.pdf unknown http://www.canadiancentreforhealtheconomics.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Asgeirsdottir-et-al1.pdf preprint ftrepec 2024-03-19T10:26:14Z This study uses individual-level longitudinal data from Iceland, a country that experienced a severe economic crisis in 2008 and substantial recovery by 2012, to investigate the extent to which the effects of a recession on health behaviors are lingering or short-lived and to explore trajectories in health behaviors from pre-crisis boom, to crisis, to recovery. Health-compromising behaviors (smoking, heavy drinking, sugared soft drinks, sweets, fast food, and tanning) declined during the crisis, and all but sweets continued to decline during the recovery. Health-promoting behaviors (consumption of fruit, fish oil, and vitamin/minerals and getting recommended sleep) followed more idiosyncratic paths. Overall, most behaviors reverted back to their pre-crisis levels or trends during the recovery, and these short-term deviations in trajectories were probably too short-lived in this recession to have major impacts on health or mortality. A notable exception is for alcohol consumption, which declined dramatically during the crisis years, continued to fall (at a slower rate) during the recovery, and did not revert back to the pre-crisis upward trend during our observation period. These lingering effects, which directionally run counter to the pre-crisis upward trend, suggest that alcohol is a potential pathway by which recessions improve health and/or reduce mortality. recessions, health behaviors, Iceland, economic crisis, economic recovery Report Iceland RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) |
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This study uses individual-level longitudinal data from Iceland, a country that experienced a severe economic crisis in 2008 and substantial recovery by 2012, to investigate the extent to which the effects of a recession on health behaviors are lingering or short-lived and to explore trajectories in health behaviors from pre-crisis boom, to crisis, to recovery. Health-compromising behaviors (smoking, heavy drinking, sugared soft drinks, sweets, fast food, and tanning) declined during the crisis, and all but sweets continued to decline during the recovery. Health-promoting behaviors (consumption of fruit, fish oil, and vitamin/minerals and getting recommended sleep) followed more idiosyncratic paths. Overall, most behaviors reverted back to their pre-crisis levels or trends during the recovery, and these short-term deviations in trajectories were probably too short-lived in this recession to have major impacts on health or mortality. A notable exception is for alcohol consumption, which declined dramatically during the crisis years, continued to fall (at a slower rate) during the recovery, and did not revert back to the pre-crisis upward trend during our observation period. These lingering effects, which directionally run counter to the pre-crisis upward trend, suggest that alcohol is a potential pathway by which recessions improve health and/or reduce mortality. recessions, health behaviors, Iceland, economic crisis, economic recovery |
format |
Report |
author |
Tinna Laufey Asgeirsdottir Hope Corman Kelly Noonan Nancy E. Reichman |
spellingShingle |
Tinna Laufey Asgeirsdottir Hope Corman Kelly Noonan Nancy E. Reichman Lifecycle Effects of a Recession on Health Behaviors: Boom, Bust, and Recovery in Iceland |
author_facet |
Tinna Laufey Asgeirsdottir Hope Corman Kelly Noonan Nancy E. Reichman |
author_sort |
Tinna Laufey Asgeirsdottir |
title |
Lifecycle Effects of a Recession on Health Behaviors: Boom, Bust, and Recovery in Iceland |
title_short |
Lifecycle Effects of a Recession on Health Behaviors: Boom, Bust, and Recovery in Iceland |
title_full |
Lifecycle Effects of a Recession on Health Behaviors: Boom, Bust, and Recovery in Iceland |
title_fullStr |
Lifecycle Effects of a Recession on Health Behaviors: Boom, Bust, and Recovery in Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Lifecycle Effects of a Recession on Health Behaviors: Boom, Bust, and Recovery in Iceland |
title_sort |
lifecycle effects of a recession on health behaviors: boom, bust, and recovery in iceland |
url |
http://www.canadiancentreforhealtheconomics.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Asgeirsdottir-et-al1.pdf |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
http://www.canadiancentreforhealtheconomics.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Asgeirsdottir-et-al1.pdf |
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1796311553530658816 |