EconStor Community:https://hdl.handle.net/10419/2705392026-09-15T02:53:05Z2026-09-15T02:53:05ZBreaking the night barrier: Night-shift reforms and women's work in IndiaVernekar, NishaSinghal, Karanhttps://hdl.handle.net/10419/3416052026-06-24T14:34:42Z2026-01-01T00:00:00ZTitle: Breaking the night barrier: Night-shift reforms and women's work in India
Authors: Vernekar, Nisha; Singhal, Karan
Abstract: Female employment in India remains among the lowest globally, despite rising education and economic growth. We examine whether gender-restrictive labor regulations constrain women's employment by studying removal of restrictions on women working night shifts in the services sector. Exploiting state-wise staggered policy adoption and nationally representative labor force surveys, we estimate causal effects of these reforms. Removing nightwork restrictions increases women's employment; likelihood of holding formal contracts; and increases wages in urban services sectors; led by formal and higher-skilled occupations. Time-use surveys reveal household spillovers with women, relative to men, being more likely to take-up and spend time in night-work. Results are suggestive of reallocation of women towards better jobs within the sector.2026-01-01T00:00:00ZUnexpected worker absences as labor supply shocks: Evidence from ambulance servicesSayli, MelisaNicoletti, ChetiMoscelli, Giuseppehttps://hdl.handle.net/10419/3423422026-07-22T15:27:53Z2026-01-01T00:00:00ZTitle: Unexpected worker absences as labor supply shocks: Evidence from ambulance services
Authors: Sayli, Melisa; Nicoletti, Cheti; Moscelli, Giuseppe
Abstract: We estimate the short-run marginal product of ambulance labour in emergency care. Using comprehensive administrative data on hospitals and ambulance stations, we exploit quasi-random variation in staffing shortages generated by unexpected sickness absences across ambulance stations serving the same emergency department. We find that a onestandard-deviation increase in ambulance staff sickness absences raises patient mortality within 24 hours of emergency department arrival by 0.78%. The effects are concentrated among high-risk patients and during periods of peak demand, highlighting the critical role of ambulance labour in the production of emergency care.2026-01-01T00:00:00ZThe economy, the ghost in your gene, and the escape from premature mortalityCosta, Dora L.Bygren, Lars OlovGraf, BenediktKarlsson, MartinPrice, Josephhttps://hdl.handle.net/10419/3131062025-04-24T12:45:22Z2025-01-01T00:00:00ZTitle: The economy, the ghost in your gene, and the escape from premature mortality
Authors: Costa, Dora L.; Bygren, Lars Olov; Graf, Benedikt; Karlsson, Martin; Price, Joseph
Abstract: Explanations for the West's escape from premature mortality have focused on chronic malnutrition or income and on public health or state capacity. We argue that by ignoring the multigenerational effects of variance in ancestors' harvests, we are underestimating the contribution of modern economic growth to the escape from early death at older ages. Using a newly constructed multigenerational dataset for Sweden, we show that grandsons' longevity was strongly linked to spatial shocks in paternal grandfathers' yearly harvest variability when agricultural productivity was low and market integration was limited. We reason that an epigenetic mechanism is the most plausible explanation for our findings. We posit that the removal of trade barriers, improvements in transportation, and agricultural innovation reduced harvest variability. We contend that for older Swedish men (but not women) born 1830-1909 this reduction was as important as decreasing contemporaneous infectious disease rates and more important than eliminating exposure to poor harvests in-utero.2025-01-01T00:00:00ZManagers and public hospital performanceMuñoz, PabloOtero, Cristóbalhttps://hdl.handle.net/10419/3163632025-05-09T01:08:15Z2025-01-01T00:00:00ZTitle: Managers and public hospital performance
Authors: Muñoz, Pablo; Otero, Cristóbal
Abstract: We study whether the quality of managers can affect public service provision in the context of public health. Using novel data from public hospitals in Chile, we show how the introduction of a competitive recruitment system and better pay for public hospital CEOs reduced hospital mortality by 8%. The effect is not explained by a change in patient composition. We find that the policy changed the pool of CEOs by displacing doctors with no management training in favor of CEOs who had studied management. Productivity improvements were driven by hospitals that recruited higher quality CEOs.2025-01-01T00:00:00Z