Working papers

Rellstab S, Bakx P and Garcia-Gomez P (2022) The effect of a miscarriage on mental health, labour market, and family outcomes. Tinbergen Discussion Paper 22-027/V.

Garcia-Gomez P, Maug E and Obernberger S (2020) Private Equity Buyouts and Employee Health. European Corporate Governance Institute Working Paper No. 680/2020. Here our summary of this research as an academic blog.

Selected work in progress

Gender and performance in collaborative research: evidence from student teams (with Max Coveney and Teresa Bago d’Uva)

Abstract. Research is increasingly a collaborative team exercise involving multiple researchers, yet little is known about how the composition of such teams affects their research output. This paper examines how the gender composition of research teams influences their performance. We take advantage of a field experiment in which first-year economics students are randomly paired together and perform research-like tasks. We find large differences in research performance, as measured by the grades they receive, by gender composition. All-male teams are significantly outperformed by both mixed and all-female research teams. These differences remain even when comprehensively controlling for the individual research aptitude of the group members. No comparable compositional effect is found for other characteristics, such as ethnicity and socio-economic status.

Childhood mental health effects of early-life exposure to paternal job loss (with Vahid Moghani and Tom van Ourti)

Abstract. We study the mental health effects of early life exposure to paternal job loss. Using nationwide individual-level administrative registry records, we focus on firm-closure-induced job losses for fathers with children below age five in the Netherlands. These children are more likely to take mental health-related medicines in their later childhood, and this increase is mainly driven by psychostimulant drugs. The increased uptake of psychostimulants ranges from 15 percent of mean uptake in the control group at age five to around 9 percent at age twelve. The effects are significantly larger for families with mothers being the main breadwinner. We further find that the father is more likely to take mental health medication around the time of job loss, and that the children exposed to paternal job loss are more likely to live in dissolved families. We find no evidence of exposed children living in neighborhoods with different rates of psychostimulants consumption compared to control children, while parents of exposed children do report more impulsive and inattentive behavior. These findings indicate that family environment changes such as family dissolution and paternal mental distress are the most likely pathways leading to higher mental health medication usage among children exposed to early-life paternal job loss.

In Sickness and in Health: The Broad Impact of Spousal Health Shocks (with Carolina Arteaga and Natalia Vigezzi)

Abstract. In this paper we provide new evidence on the spillover effects of health shocks within couples. Using administrative data from the Netherlands and a matching event-study framework, we estimate the causal effect of experiencing a health shock within a couple on the initially unaffected partner. Our findings reveal a significant deterioration in the partner’s health outlook, characterized by substantial increases in hospital visits, overnight stays, and mortality. The health decline is broad in scope, encompassing higher risk of cancer, infections, accidents, and digestive and cardiovascular conditions. This deterioration is accompanied by substantial increases in stress and anxiety for both men a women, as well as depression and sleep disorders for women. Health shocks also trigger changes in household structure, including a increased likelihood of divorce. We do not find evidence of risky behaviors. On the contrary, we document a rise in exercise among men and a reduction in smoking and drinking among women.