Health Consequences of Pension Policy Reforms across Countries: Historical Antecedents and Current Developments
Name: Claudia Michaels
School: Mailman School of Public Health, Class of 2023
Mentor: Esteban Calvo, PhD, MPH
Abstract
What pension policy changes are potentially associated with health changes? Are there ecological associations between pension policy and health changes over time across the globe? Financial security in old age is an important social determinant of health. Previous studies have observed impacts of pension plan expansion and generosity on indicators such as unmet medical need due to cost and old-age excess mortality. However, such research is limited to a small sample of countries and in some cases, represents decades-old data. This project seeks to identify consequences of historical and current pension policy reforms on health, using updated and more detailed measures of pension policy across a wider sample of countries. A cross-national dataset was created by coding information using text as a primary source and extracting available quantitative data from relevant sources. The dataset was then validated for consistency and lack of missing data. Based on theoretical and empirical criteria, the best measurements were selected to begin STATA analysis. Ongoing analysis in STATA will involve creating summary measures, obtaining descriptive statistics, and running longitudinal regression models.
Data analysis for this project is ongoing.