This study examines the effects of a congestion tax in central Stockholm on ambient air pollution and the health of local children. We demonstrate that the tax reduced ambient air pollution by 5-15 percent and the rate of acute asthma attacks among young children. We do not see corresponding changes in accidents or hospitalizations for nonrespiratory conditions. As the change in health was more gradual than the change in pollution, it may take time for the full health effects of changes in pollution to materialize if the mechanism is pollution. Hence, shortrun estimates of pollution reduction programs may understate long-run health benefits.
The 14C content of 60 human blood serum samples from residents of Malmö (Sweden) in 1978, obtained from a biobank, has been measured to estimate the accuracy of 14C bomb-pulse dating. The difference between the date estimated using the Calibomb software and sampling date varied between −3 ± 0.4 and +0.2 ± 0.5 years. The average age deviation of all samples was −1.5 ± 0.7 years, with the delay between production and consumption of foodstuffs being probably the dominating cause. The potential influence of food habits on the 14C date has been evaluated using stable isotope δ13C and δ15N analysis and information about the dietary habits of the investigated individuals. Although the group consisting of lacto-ovo vegetarians and vegans (pooled group) was not completely separated from the omnivores in a stable isotopic trophic level diagram, this analysis proved to add valuable information on probable dietary habits. The age deviation of the sampling date from the respective Calibomb date was found strongly correlated with the δ13C values, probably due to influence from marine diet components. For the omnivore individuals, there were indications of seasonal effects on δ13C and the age deviation. No significant correlation was found between the age deviation and the δ15N values of any dietary group. No influence of sex or year of birth was found on neither the 14C nor the δ13C and δ15N values of the serum samples. The data were also divided into two groups (omnivores and pooled group), based on the level of δ15N in the samples. The consumption of high δ15N-valued fish and birds can be responsible for this clustering.
This paper studies whether adverse selection can rationalize a universal mandate for unemployment insurance (UI). Building on a unique feature of the unemployment policy in Sweden, where workers can opt for supplemental UI coverage above a minimum mandate, we provide the first direct evidence for adverse selection in UI and derive its implications for UI design. We find that the unemployment risk is more than twice as high for workers who buy supplemental coverage. Exploiting variation in risk and prices, we show how 25–30 percent of this correlation is driven by risk-based selection, with the remainder driven by moral hazard. Due to the moral hazard and despite the adverse selection we find that mandating the supplemental coverage to individuals with low willingness-to-pay would be suboptimal. We show under which conditions a design leaving choice to workers would dominate a UI system with a single mandate. In this design, using a subsidy for supplemental coverage is optimal and complementary to the use of a minimum mandate. (JEL D82, G22, J65)
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