Health and wellbeing spillovers of a partner’s cancer diagnosis

Angelini, Viola and Costa-Font, Joan ORCID: 0000-0001-7174-7919 (2023) Health and wellbeing spillovers of a partner’s cancer diagnosis. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 212. 422 - 437. ISSN 0167-2681

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Abstract

Major health shocks can have far-reaching implications for the welfare of an individual's support and emotional network. This paper investigates both long-term and short-term spillover effects of a major non-communicable health shock, namely a cancer diagnosis (CD), on the health and well-being of an individual's partner. We rely on data from a longitudinal sample of individuals over fifty from 19 European countries. Our estimates provide economically relevant evidence of the spillovers of a CD on the partner's mental health and well-being. We document a robust and time persisting negative relationship between a partner's CD and several measures of well-being, which is not driven by changes in health behaviors. These findings suggest that focusing solely on the individual economic impact of a CD will likely underestimate its long-term welfare effects unless the external effects on the emotional support network are considered.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2023 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Health Policy
Subjects:	J Political Science H Social Sciences
JEL classification:	I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I18 - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J14 - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped
Date Deposited:	02 Jun 2023 14:51
Last Modified:	25 Nov 2024 20:57
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/119327

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