@article{64109,
  abstract     = {{<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>
                  <jats:p>We study the effect of education on health (hospital stays, number of diagnosed conditions, poor or bad self-rated health, and body mass index) over the life cycle, using German compulsory schooling reforms as a source of exogenous variation. Our results show clear correlations between educational attainment and better health across all age groups (30 to 74). However, we do not find causal relationships between additional schooling and health or health care utilization, neither earlier nor later in life. A simulated ex-post power analysis shows that this is not due to a lack of statistical power. One reason for the absence of effects may be that the studied compulsory schooling reforms succeeded in raising the educational attainment of the target group - individuals at the lowest educational margin - but did not lead to healthier employment opportunities.</jats:p>}},
  author       = {{Hollenbach, Johannes and Schmitz, Hendrik and Tawiah, Beatrice Baaba}},
  issn         = {{1618-7598}},
  journal      = {{The European Journal of Health Economics}},
  publisher    = {{Springer Science and Business Media LLC}},
  title        = {{{Life-cycle health effects of compulsory schooling}}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10198-025-01884-2}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}

@article{64108,
  abstract     = {{<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>
                  <jats:p>We study how gene-environment interactions between education and genetic endowments affect cognition in old age and use this setting to show that – even with a valid instrument – two-stage least squares (2SLS) estimates of interaction effects can be far away from the true effect. This is the case when treatment effects are heterogeneous and compliance to the instrument depends on the interaction variable. We suggest estimating marginal treatment effects to address this problem. Our estimation results show complementarities between education and genetic predisposition in determining later-life memory. The marginal treatment effect estimates suggest substantially larger gene-environment interactions than the 2SLS estimates.</jats:p>}},
  author       = {{Hollenbach, Johannes and Schmitz, Hendrik and Westphal, Matthias}},
  issn         = {{0013-0133}},
  journal      = {{The Economic Journal}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press (OUP)}},
  title        = {{{Gene-environment interactions with essential heterogeneity}}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/ej/ueag010}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}

@misc{64154,
  author       = {{Schmitz, Hendrik and Matthias, Westphal}},
  booktitle    = {{Wirtschaftspsychologie heute}},
  title        = {{{Bildung in der Jugend hält das Gehirn jung}}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}

@article{59345,
  abstract     = {{<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title><jats:p>We study the effect of education on vaccination against COVID in Germany in a sample of individuals above the age of 60. In ordinary least squares regressions, we find that, in this age group, one more year of education goes along with a 0.7 percentage point increase in the likelihood to get a COVID vaccination. In two stage least squares regressions where changes in compulsory schooling laws are used as exogenous variation for education, the effect of an additional year of education is estimated to be zero. The results hold for the compliers to the policy change which are older individuals at the lowest margin of education.</jats:p>}},
  author       = {{Monsees, Daniel and Schmitz, Hendrik}},
  issn         = {{1057-9230}},
  journal      = {{Health Economics}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{643--654}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley}},
  title        = {{{The Effect of Compulsory Schooling on Vaccination Against COVID}}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/hec.4929}},
  volume       = {{34}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}

@article{62017,
  author       = {{Mayrhofer, Thomas and Schmitz, Hendrik}},
  issn         = {{0165-1765}},
  journal      = {{Economics Letters}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier BV}},
  title        = {{{Prudence and prevention – empirical evidence}}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.econlet.2025.112671}},
  volume       = {{257}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}

@article{59347,
  abstract     = {{<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Vaccination is a highly effective method to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate severe disease. In Germany, adult vaccination rates are relatively high at 85.5%, but rates are significantly lower for adolescents (69.6%) and children (20.0%). This discrepancy indicates that not all vaccinated parents choose to vaccinate their children. Analyzing data from a January 2022 online survey of 1,819 parents with children and adolescents, we explore the socio-economic factors influencing parents’ willingness to vaccinate themselves and their children. Our results show that individuals who vote for either side of the political extremes are less likely to vaccinate their children. This pattern is particularly strong for voters on the far right. In addition, we find that better educated parents are more likely to vaccinate both themselves and their children. Parents who vaccinate both themselves and their children demonstrate greater confidence in the vaccine’s effectiveness, while those who vaccinate only themselves are often motivated by a desire to regain personal freedoms. These insights highlight the need for targeted public health strategies to address specific concerns and improve vaccination rates among children and adolescents.</jats:p>}},
  author       = {{Hörnig, Lukas and Schaffner, Sandra and Schmitz, Hendrik}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  journal      = {{Scientific Reports}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Springer Science and Business Media LLC}},
  title        = {{{The individual and ecological characteristics of parental COVID-19 vaccination decisions}}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41598-024-74963-8}},
  volume       = {{14}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}

@article{59346,
  abstract     = {{<jats:p>Vaccination willingness against COVID-19 is generally perceived as low. Moreover, there is large heterogeneity across and within countries. As a whole, Germany has average vaccination rates compared to other industrialized countries. However, vaccination rates in the 16 different German federal states differ by more than 20 percentage points. We describe variation in vaccination rates on the level of the 400 German counties using data on all vaccinations carried out until December 2022. Around 52-72% of that variation can be explained by regional differences in demographic characteristics, housing, education and political party preferences. We find indications that the remaining part may be due to differences in soft factors such as risk aversion, trust in the German government, trust in science, and beliefs in conspiracy theories regarding the origins of the Corona virus. We conclude that improving the trust in science and the fight against conspiracy theories may possibly be effective tools to improve vaccination rates and effectively fight pandemics.</jats:p>}},
  author       = {{Bade, Verena and Schmitz, Hendrik and Tawiah, Beatrice Baaba}},
  issn         = {{1932-6203}},
  journal      = {{PLOS ONE}},
  number       = {{4}},
  publisher    = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
  title        = {{{Regional variations in vaccination against COVID-19 in Germany}}},
  doi          = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0296976}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}

@article{35637,
  abstract     = {{Individual cognitive functioning declines over time. We seek to understand how adverse physical health shocks in older ages contribute to this development. By use of event-study methods and data from the USA, England, and several countries in Continental Europe, we find evidence that health shocks lead to an immediate and persistent decline in cognitive functioning. This robust finding holds in all regions representing different health insurance systems and seems to be independent of underlying individual demographic characteristics such as sex and age. We also ask whether variables that are susceptible to policy action can reduce the negative consequences of a health shock. Our results suggest that neither compulsory education nor retirement regulations moderate the effects, thus emphasizing the importance for cognitive functioning of maintaining good physical health in old age.}},
  author       = {{Schiele, Valentin and Schmitz, Hendrik}},
  journal      = {{European Economic Review}},
  title        = {{{Understanding cognitive decline in older ages: The role of health shocks}}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.euroecorev.2022.104320}},
  volume       = {{151}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

@techreport{46534,
  abstract     = {{We study the effect of education on health (hospital stays, number of diagnosed conditions, self-rated poor health, and obesity) over the life-cycle in Germany, using compulsory schooling reforms as a source of exogenous variation. Our results suggest a positive correlation of health and education which increases over the life-cycle. We do not, however, find any positive local average treatment effects of an additional year of schooling on health or health care utilization for individuals up to age 79. An exception is obesity, where positive effects of schooling start to be visible around age 60 and become very large in age group 75-79. The results in age group 75-79 need to be interpreted with caution, however, due to small sample size and possible problems of attrition.}},
  author       = {{Schmitz, Hendrik and Tawiah, Beatrice Baaba}},
  keywords     = {{Education, health, life-cycle effects, compulsory schooling}},
  publisher    = {{RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen}},
  title        = {{{Life-cycle health effects of compulsory schooling}}},
  volume       = {{1006}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

@techreport{46521,
  author       = {{Freise, Diana and Schiele, Valentin and Schmitz, Hendrik}},
  issn         = {{1556-5068}},
  keywords     = {{General Earth and Planetary Sciences, General Environmental Science}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier BV}},
  title        = {{{Housing Situations and Local COVID-19 Infection Dynamics – A Case Study With Small-Area Data}}},
  doi          = {{10.2139/ssrn.4372490}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

@techreport{46536,
  abstract     = {{We study the effect of education on vaccination against COVID-19 and influenza in Germany and Europe. Our identification strategy makes use of changes in compulsory schooling laws and allows to estimate local average treatment effects for individuals between 59 and 91 years of age. We find no significant effect of an additional year of schooling on vaccination status in Germany. Pooling data from Europe, we conclude that schooling increases the likelihood to vaccinate against COVID by an economically negligible effect of one percentage point (zero for influenza). However, we find indications that additional schooling increases fear of side effects from COVID vaccination.}},
  author       = {{Monsees, Daniel and Schmitz, Hendrik}},
  keywords     = {{COVID, influenza, vaccination, education, compulsory schooling}},
  publisher    = {{RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen}},
  title        = {{{The effect of compulsory schooling on vaccination against COVID and Influenza}}},
  volume       = {{1011}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

@article{46971,
  abstract     = {{<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Low socio-economic status is associated with higher SARS-CoV-2 incidences. In this paper we study whether this is a result of differences in (1) the frequency, (2) intensity, and/or (3) duration of local SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks depending on the local housing situations. So far, there is not clear evidence which of the three factors dominates. Using small-scale data from neighborhoods in the German city Essen and a flexible estimation approach which does not require prior knowledge about specific transmission characteristics of SARS-CoV-2, behavioral responses or other potential model parameters, we find evidence for the last of the three hypotheses. Outbreaks do not happen more often in less well-off areas or are more severe (in terms of the number of cases), but they last longer. This indicates that the socio-economic gradient in infection levels is at least in parts a result of a more sustained spread of infections in neighborhoods with worse housing conditions after local outbreaks and suggests that in case of an epidemic allocating scarce resources in containment measures to areas with poor housing conditions might have the greatest benefit.</jats:p>}},
  author       = {{Freise, Diana and Schiele, Valentin and Schmitz, Hendrik}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  journal      = {{Scientific Reports}},
  keywords     = {{Multidisciplinary}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Springer Science and Business Media LLC}},
  title        = {{{Housing situations and local COVID-19 infection dynamics using small-area data}}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41598-023-40734-0}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

@article{33458,
  abstract     = {{We study the effect of unemployment on cognitive abilities among individuals aged between 50 and 65 in Europe. To this end, we exploit plant closures and use flexible event-study estimations together with an experimentally elicited measure of fluid intelligence, namely word recall. We find that, within a time period of around eight years after the event of unemployment, cognitive abilities only deteriorate marginally — the effects are insignificant both in statistical and economic terms. We do, however, find significant effects of late-career unemployment on the likelihood to leave the labor force, and short-term effects on mental health problems such as depression and sleep problems.}},
  author       = {{Freise, Diana and Schmitz, Hendrik and Westphal, Matthias}},
  journal      = {{Journal of Health Economics}},
  title        = {{{Late-Career Unemployment and Cognitive Abilities}}},
  doi          = {{https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102689}},
  volume       = {{86}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}

@article{30235,
  author       = {{Westphal, Matthias and Kamhöfer, Daniel A. and Schmitz, Hendrik}},
  journal      = {{Economic Journal}},
  number       = {{646}},
  pages        = {{2231--2272}},
  title        = {{{Marginal College Wage Premium under Selection into Employment}}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/ej/ueac021}},
  volume       = {{132}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}

@techreport{46540,
  abstract     = {{Individual cognitive functioning declines over time. We seek to understand how adverse physical health shocks in older ages contribute to this development. By use of event-study methods and data from the USA, England and several countries in Continental Europe we find evidence that health shocks lead to an immediate and persistent decline in cognitive functioning. This robust finding holds in all regions representing different health insurance systems and seems to be independent of underlying individual demographic characteristics such as sex and age. We also ask whether variables that are susceptible to policy action can reduce the negative consequences of a health shock. Our results suggest that neither compulsory education nor retirement regulations moderate the effects, thus emphasizing the importance of maintaining good physical health in old age for cognitive functioning.}},
  author       = {{Schiele, Valentin and Schmitz, Hendrik}},
  keywords     = {{Cognitive decline, health shocks, retirement, education, event study}},
  publisher    = {{RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen}},
  title        = {{{Understanding cognitive decline in older ages: The role of health shocks}}},
  volume       = {{919}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}

@techreport{46537,
  abstract     = {{We study effects of retirement on cognitive abilities (up to ten years after retirement) using data from 21 countries in Continental Europe, England, and the US, and exploiting early-retirement thresholds for identification. For this purpose, combines event-study estimations with the marginal treatment effect framework to allow for effect heterogeneity. This helps to decompose event-study estimates into true medium-run effects of retirement and effects driven by differential retirement preferences. Our results suggest considerable negative effects of retirement on cognitive abilities. We also detect substantial effect heterogeneity: Those who retire as early as possible are not affected while those who retire later exhibit negative effects.}},
  author       = {{Schmitz, Hendrik and Westphal, Matthias}},
  keywords     = {{Cognitive abilities, retirement, event study, marginal treatment effects}},
  publisher    = {{RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen}},
  title        = {{{The dynamic and heterogeneous effects of retirement on cognitive decline}}},
  volume       = {{918}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}

@article{30234,
  author       = {{Schmitz, Hendrik and Stroka‐Wetsch, Magdalena A.}},
  issn         = {{1057-9230}},
  journal      = {{Health Economics}},
  keywords     = {{Health Policy}},
  number       = {{7}},
  pages        = {{766--777}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley}},
  title        = {{{Determinants of nursing home choice: Does reported quality matter?}}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/hec.4018}},
  volume       = {{29}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}

@article{30233,
  author       = {{Schmitz, Hendrik and Stroka‐Wetsch, Magdalena A.}},
  issn         = {{1057-9230}},
  journal      = {{Health Economics}},
  keywords     = {{Health Policy}},
  number       = {{7}},
  pages        = {{766--777}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley}},
  title        = {{{Determinants of nursing home choice: Does reported quality matter?}}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/hec.4018}},
  volume       = {{29}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}

@techreport{46541,
  abstract     = {{Theoretical papers show that optimal prevention decisions in the sense of selfprotection (i.e., primary prevention) depend not only on the level of (second-order) risk aversion but also on higher-order risk preferences such as prudence (third-order risk aversion). We study empirically whether these theoretical results hold and whether prudent individuals show less preventive (self-protection) effort than non-prudent individuals. We use a unique dataset that combines data on higher-order risk preferences and various measures of observed real-world prevention behavior. We find that prudent individuals indeed invest less in self-protection as measured by influenza vaccination. This result is driven by high risk individuals such as individuals >60 years of age or chronically ill. We do not find a clear empirical relationship between riskpreferences and prevention in the sense of self-insurance (i.e. secondary prevention). Neither risk aversion nor prudence is related to cancer screenings such as mammograms, Pap smears or X-rays of the lung.}},
  author       = {{Mayrhofer, Thomas and Schmitz, Hendrik}},
  keywords     = {{prudence, risk preferences, prevention, vaccination, screening}},
  publisher    = {{RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen}},
  title        = {{{Prudence and prevention: Empirical evidence}}},
  volume       = {{863}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}

@article{15075,
  author       = {{Bünnings, Christian and Schmitz, Hendrik and Tauchmann, Harald and Ziebarth, Nicolas R.}},
  issn         = {{0022-4367}},
  journal      = {{Journal of Risk and Insurance}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{415--449}},
  title        = {{{The Role of Prices Relative to Supplemental Benefits and Service Quality in Health Plan Choice}}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/jori.12219}},
  volume       = {{86}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}