Seminar - The Health Burden of Job Strain: Evidence from Europe

The Lausanne Center for Health Economics, Behavior, and Policy (LCHE) regularly organizes seminars about Health Economics. More details on www.lche.ch.

Topic of the Seminar

The Health Burden of Job Strain: Evidence from Europe

This study examines the impact of occupational stressors and tasks throughout an individual’s career on health in older age. Leveraging comprehensive job occupation data from the SHARE dataset, we establish precise connections between stressors and specific jobs at the 4-digit ISCO code level. To ensure accurate measurement of physical exertion, we propose the use of Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET), based on the metabolic rate consumption associated with each task. 

We provide compelling evidence that individuals, especially women, engaged in physically demanding jobs experience significantly worse health in older age. These results remain valid after several robustness checks and controlling for a rich set of variables. 

We also introduce a novel LASSO-based approach to identify harmful tasks and measure overall Job Strain Intensity, incorporating unobserved occupational stressors. This allows us to pinpoint specific harmful tasks and ISCO codes, offering insights for targeted retirement schemes and fairness in statutory retirement ages. 

Policymakers can use our findings to foster healthier work environments and guide investments in automating high-risk tasks, improving workplace safety and well-being.

Speaker

• Prof. Giacomo Pasini, Università ca foscari, Venezia

Professor of Econometrics and Head of Department at the Department of Economics at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Prof. Pasini is affiliated to Netspar. He is associate editor of Health Economics and of Research in Economics, moreover member of the editorial board of the Journal of Pension, Economics & Finance

Practical information

• Free admission
• No need to register
• This seminar is given in English
• This conference is possible on WebEx or on site at Unisanté (Vennes)

About LCHE

The Lausanne Center for Health Economics, Behavior, and Policy (LCHE) at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) promotes research, teaching, and policy advice in the fields of health economics, behavior, and policy.

The interdisciplinary center brings together researchers of the Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), the Faculty of Biology and Medicine (CHUV-FBM), and the Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC).