Health and wellbeing spillovers of a partner's cancer diagnosis

Viola Angelini and Joan Costa-Font

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2023, vol. 212, issue C, 422-437

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.

Keywords: Cancer; Family spillovers; Health behaviors; Household well-being; Employment; Loneliness; Welfare effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I18 J14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Health and Wellbeing Spillovers of a Partner’s Cancer Diagnosis (2023)
Working Paper: Health and wellbeing spillovers of a partner’s cancer diagnosis (2023)
Working Paper: Health and Wellbeing Spillovers of a Partner's Cancer Diagnosis (2023)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:212:y:2023:i:c:p:422-437

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2023.06.001

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