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It never rains but it pours: Austerity and mortality rate in peripheral areas

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  • Guccio, C.
  • Pignatora, G.
  • Vidoli, F.

Abstract

Austerity policies have been widely adopted in advanced countries to reduce public deficits. However, they can have unintended consequences, including negative impacts on population health. In this paper, taking advantage of temporal and geographical discontinuity of regional healthcare recovery plans (RPs) adopted in Italy since 2007 and employing a matching estimator in a discrete spatial non-stationarity framework, the impact of RPs on mortality rates at the municipal level has been tested for the period 2003 to 2018. We find that austerity has had unintentional negative effects on the mortality rate, particularly in peripheral areas and for the most vulnerable population.

Suggested Citation

  • Guccio, C. & Pignatora, G. & Vidoli, F., 2023. "It never rains but it pours: Austerity and mortality rate in peripheral areas," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 23/02, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    • Handle: RePEc:yor:hectdg:23/02
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    Cited by:

    1. S. Balia & R. Brau & S. Pau, 2025. "One plus one makes less than two? Consolidation policies and mortality in the Italian NHS," Working Paper CRENoS 202502, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    austerity; health outcomes; mortality rate; spatial non-stationarity; difference-in-difference;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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