Center for the Study of Human Capital

Spotlight

CSHC and Titus Galama featured in "The Last Show" podcast

The podcast The Last Show featured Titus Galama, speaking about the surprisingly strong detrimental effects on the mental health of unemployment men of the social expectation that able-bodied men work, larger than the detriment of losing one’s spouse. (01:15:22 – 01:23:55)

A USC Dornsife study by Titus Galama, director of The Center for the Study of Human Capital finds that for unemployed men, mental health improves significantly after 50 — not because of aging or more leisure time, but because at those ages it becomes socially acceptable not to be working.

A USC Dornsife study by The Center for the Study of Human Capital and Titus Galama finds that for unemployed men, mental health improves significantly after 50 — not because of aging or more leisure time, but because retirement becomes socially acceptable.

Screenshot of Dornife article featuring CESR's Titus Galama

CSHC and UAS featured in Dornsife News

$59 million boost enhances USC Dornsife’s Understanding America Study and nationwide research.National Institute on Aging grants increase study participant diversity, add new data sources and fund new research on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia.

Genes also play a role in Economics

Postdoc Sjoerd van Alten interviewed about his geno-economics research in newspaper Trouw (in Dutch)

Overview

The CESR Center for the Study of Human Capital (CSHC) aims to support, disseminate and communicate research focused on health and human capital, their relationship with socio-economic outcomes (education, longevity, intergenerational mobility, etc.), and the role of early childhood endowments, circumstances, and parental investments in explaining later-life health, human capital, and socioeconomic outcomes. An important focus of the center is to make use of recent advances in genetics to inform economic analyses, such as for example, studies of gene-by-environment (GxE) interplay in influencing health outcomes, such as unhealthy behaviors, mortality, late-life cognition, cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s and related dementias. CSHC aims to develop integrated approaches to these issues, developing theory to explain empirical findings and make predictions, and conduct empirical structural- as well as reduced-form analyses. CSHC brings together researchers from various disciplines within the University of Southern California’s (USC) research community as well as distinguished researchers from outside USC, in such fields as economics (of health, human capital, and labor), epidemiology, psychology, demography, gerontology, public health, biology and genetics. The center seeks to stimulate collaboration and communication between CSHC researchers and develop an infrastructure for its members and the broader research community. For example, we organize an online Social-Science Genetics Seminar Series. The center also seeks to inform policy makers to assist policy making and communicate findings to the general public. CSHC members actively pursue sources of funding for the center, such as from foundations, to support its activities. Initial support was provided by CESR and by a National Institute on Aging K02 award (K02 AG042452).

Research

From Understanding to Reducing Health Disparities: A Model-based Evaluation

Galama, T.J., Lleras-Muney, A. and van Kippersluis, H. (2020), The Effect of Education on Health and Mortality: A Review of Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Evidence. Oxford Handbook of Health Economics (forthcoming). Link to working paper .

Fonseca R, Michaud PC, Galama T, Kapteyn A. Accounting for the Rise of Health Spending and Longevity. J Eur Econ Assoc. 2021 Feb;19(1):536-579. doi: 10.1093/jeea/jvaa003. Epub 2020 Mar 12. PMID: 33679266; PMCID: PMC7935060.

Van Ourti T, O’Donnell O, Koç H, Fracheboud J, de Koning HJ. Effect of screening mammography on breast cancer mortality: Quasi-experimental evidence from rollout of the Dutch population-based program with 17-year follow-up of a cohort. Int J Cancer. 2020 Apr 15;146(8):2201-2208. doi: 10.1002/ijc.32584. Epub 2019 Aug 7. PMID: 31330046; PMCID: PMC7065105.

Koç H, O’Donnell O, Van Ourti T. What Explains Education Disparities in Screening Mammography in the United States? A Comparison with The Netherlands. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Sep 8;15(9):1961. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15091961. PMID: 30205539; PMCID: PMC6163342.

Galama, T.J., Lleras-Muney, A. and Van Kippersluis, H. (2018), The Effect of Education on Health and Mortality: A Review of Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Evidence. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance. Link to working paper .  DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190625979.013.7

Galama TJ, van Kippersluis H. A Theory of Socio-economic Disparities in Health over the Life Cycle. Econ J (London). 2019 Jan;129(617):338-374. doi: 10.1111/ecoj.12577. Epub 2018 May 19. PMID: 30905971; PMCID: PMC6430209.

Angrisani M, Atella V, Brunetti M. Public Health Insurance and Household Portfolio Choices: Unravelling Financial “Side Effects” of Medicare. J Bank Financ. 2018 Aug;93:198-212. doi: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2018.05.001. Epub 2018 May 7. PMID: 30700924; PMCID: PMC6349261.

Bago d’Uva, T.M, O’Donnell, O.A, and van Doorslaer, E.K.A. (2017). Who can predict their own demise? Heterogeneity in the accuracy and value of longevity expectations. Journal of the Economics of Aging. doi:10.1016/j.jeoa.2017.10.003

Hsieh, C.S. and Van Kippersluis, H. (2017). Smoking Initiation: Peers and Personality . Quantitative Economics, forthcoming  Link to working paper.

Ravesteijn, B., Van Kippersluis, H., Van Doorslaer, E. (2017). The wear and tear on health: what is the role of occupation? Health Economics (forthcoming) NIHMSID: 900657; Link to working paper

Van Kippersluis, H., and Rietveld, C.A. (2017). Pleiotropy-robust Mendelian Randomization. International Journal of Epidemiology, 1-10; Link to working paper

Angrisani, M., Hurd, M., Meijer, E., Parker, A. and Rohwedder, S. (2017). Personality and Employment Transitions at Older Ages: Direct and Indirect Effects through Non-Monetary Job Characteristics. Labour (early view). Link to working paper

Salvy, S.-J., de la Haye, K., Galama, T.J. and Goran, M.I. (2017). Home visitation programs: An untapped opportunity for the delivery of early childhood obesity prevention. Obesity Reviews. 18(2), pp.149-163.

Coveney, M., García Gómez, P., Van Doorslaer, E. and Van Ourti, T. (2016). Health Disparities by Income in Spain Before and After the Economic Crisis. Health Economics, 25(S2), pp.141-158. NIHMSID 821561; Link to working paper .

Arnold, M., Rentería, E., Conway, D.I., Van Ourti, T., and Soerjomataram, I. (2016). Global inequalities in cancer incidence and mortality in the 21st century. Cancer Causes and Control, 27(8): 999-1007. PMID: 27329211

Bijwaard, G.E. and Van Kippersluis, H. (2016). Efficiency of Health Investment: Education or Intelligence? Health Economics 25(9): 1056-1072

Aguila, E., Angrisani, M. and Blanco, L. (2016), Ownership of a bank account and health of older Hispanics, Economics Letters, 144, 41–44. PMCID: PMC5034945

O’Donnell, O., O’Neill, S., Van Ourti, T., Walsh, B. (2016). Conindex: Estimation of Concentration Indices. The Stata Journal, 16(1): 112-138. NIHMS ID: NIHMS756115; PMCID: PMC4819995

Croezen, S., Avendano, M., Burdorf, A., Van Lenthe, F. (2015). Social participation and depression in old age: A fixed effects analysis in ten European countries. American Journal of Epidemiology, 182(2): 168-76. PMCID: PMC4493978. PMID 26025236

Noelke, C., Avendano, M. (2015). Who Suffers During Recessions? Economic Downturns, Job Loss, and Cardiovascular Disease in Older Americans. American Journal of Epidemiology, 182(10): 873-82. PMC Journal – In Process. PMID: 26476283

Arroyave, I., Hessel, P., Burdorf, A., Rodriguez-Garcia, J., Cardona, D., Avendano, M. (2015). The public Health Impact of Economic Fluctuations in a Latin American Country: Mortality and the Business Cycle in Colombia in the Period 1980-2010. International Journal for Equity in Health, 14:48. PMCID: PMC4477489. PMID: 26014135.

Avendano, M., Hessel, P. (2015). The income inequality hypothesis rejected? European Journal of Epidemiology, 30(8): 595-598. NIHMS ID: NIHMS723814. PMID: 26377701

Orsini, C., Avendano, M. (2015). Macro-economic conditions and infant health: a changing relationship for black and white infants in the United States. PLoS One. PMCID: PMC4431876. PMID: 25974070

Van Hedel, K., Van Lenthe, F.J., Avendano, M., Bopp, M., Esnaola, S., Kovács, K., Martikainen, P., Regidor, E., Mackenbach, J.P. (2015). Marital status, labour force activity and mortality: a study in the USA and six European countries. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. 43(5): 469-80. PMCID: PMC4673396. PMID: 25868643

Montez, J.K., Martikainen, P., Remes, H., Avendano, M. (2015). Work-Family Context and the Longevity Disadvantage of US Women. Social Forces. 93, 4: 1567-1597. NIHMS ID: NIHMS755376

Bijwaard, G.E., Van Kippersluis, H., Veenman, J. (2015). Education and health: The role of cognitive ability. Journal of Health Economics, 42: 29-43. PMCID: PMC4478201. PMID: 25912224. Link to working paper.

Avendano, M., Berkman, L.F., Brugiavini, A., Pasini, G. (2015). The long-run effect of maternity leave benefits on mental health: Evidence from European countries. Social Science and Medicine, 132: 45-53. PMCID: PMC4400242. PMID: 25792339. Link to working paper.

Van Hedel, K., Avendano, M., Berkman, L.F., Bopp, M., Deboosere, P., Lundberg, O., Martikainen, P., Menvielle, G., Van Lenthe, F.J., Mackenbach, J.P. (2015). The contribution of national disparities to international differences in mortality between the United States and 7 European countries. American Journal of Public Health, 105(4): e112-9. PMID: 25713947.

Cylus, J., Glymour, M.M., Avendano, M. (2015). Health effects of unemployment benefit program generosity. American Journal of Public Health, 105(2): 317-23. PMID: 25521897.

De Vries, E., Arroyave, I., Pardo, C., Wiesner, C., Murillo, R., Forman, D., Burdorf, A., Avendano, M. (2015). Trends in inequalities in premature cancer mortality by educational level in Colombia, 1998-2007. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 69(5): 408-15. PMCID: PMC4393795. PMID: 25492898.

Garcia-Gomez, P., Schokkaert, E., Van Ourti, T., Bago d’Uva, T. (2015). Inequity in the Face of Death. Health Economics. 24(10): 1348-1367. NIHMS ID: NIHMS755422. PMID: 25073459.

O’Donnell, O., Van Doorslaer, E., Van Ourti, T. (2015). Health and inequality. In Atkinson A.B., Bourguignon F.J. (eds.), North-Holland Handbook of Income Distribution, Elsevier: 1419-1533. Link to working paper.

Rietveld, C.A., Kippersluis, H. and Thurik, A.R. (2015). Self‐employment and health: Barriers or benefits?. Health Economics, 24(10): 1302-1313. NIHMS ID: NIHMS759755

Van Ourti, T., Erreygers, G., Clarke, P. (2014). Measuring Equality and Equity in Health and Health Care. In Culyer, T. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Health Economics, Vol. 2, Elsevier: 234-239.

Hessel, P., Vandoros, S., Avendano, M. (2014). The differential impact of the financial crisis on health in Ireland and Greece: a quasi-experimental approach. Public Health, 128(10): 911-9. PMCID: PMC4372657. PMID: 25369355.

Lopez-Arana, S., Avendano, M., Van Lenthe, F.J., Burdorf, A. (2014). Trends in overweight among women differ by occupational class: results from 33 low- and middle-income countries in the period 1992-2009. International Journal of Obesity, 38(1): 97-105. PMCID: PMC3742714. PMID: 23649471.

Van Kippersluis, H., Galama, T.J. (2014). Wealth and Health Behavior: Testing the Concept of a Health Cost. European Economic Review. 72: 197-220. PMCID: PMC4266945. PMID: 25530621. Link to working paper.

Riumallo-Herl, C., Basu, S., Stuckler, D., Courtin, E., Avendano, M. (2014). Job loss, wealth and depression during the Great Recession in the USA and Europe. International Journal of Epidemiology, 43(5): 1508-17. PMCID: PMC4190512. PMID: 24942142.

Cylus, J., Glymour, M.M., Avendano, M. (2014).  Cylus et al. respond to “unrealized benefits?” American Journal of Epidemiology, 180(1): 56-7. PMCID: PMC4133557. PMID: 24939979.

Cylus, J., Glymour, M.M., Avendano, M. (2014). Do generous unemployment benefit programs reduce suicide rates? A state fixed-effect analysis covering 1968-2008. American Journal of Epidemiology, 180(1): 45-52. PMCID: PMC4070935. PMID: 24939978.

Arroyave, I., Burdorf, A., Cardona, D., Avendano, M. (2014). Socioeconomic inequalities in premature mortality in Colombia, 1998-2007: the double burden of non-communicable diseases and injuries. Preventative Medicine, 64: 41-7. PMCID: PMC4067972. PMID: 24674854.

Riumallo-Herl, C.J., Kawachi, I., Avendano, M. (2014). Social capital, mental health and biomarkers in Chile: assessing the effects of social capital in a middle-income country. Social Science and Medicine, 105: 47-58. PMCID: PMC4089037. PMID: 24495808.

Rodríguez López, S., Montero, P., Carmenate, M., Avendano, M. (2014). Functional decline over 2 years in older Spanish adults: evidence from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Geriatrics and Gerontology International, 14(2): 403-12. PMCID: PMC3843990. PMID: 23844926.

Avendano, M., Kawachi, I. (2014). Why do Americans have shorter life expectancy and worse health than do people in other high-income countries? Annual Review of Public Health, 35: 307-25. PMCID: PMC4112220. PMID: 24422560.

Leist, A.K., Hessel, P., Avendano, M. (2014). Do economic recessions during early and mid-adulthood influence cognitive function in older age? Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 68(2): 151-8. PMCID: PMC4067969. PMID: 24258197.

Baeten, S., Van Ourti, T., Van Doorslaer, E. (2013). Rising inequalities in income and health in China: who is left behind? Journal of Health Economics, 32(6): 1214-29. PMCID: PMC3880577. PMID: 24189450.

Baeten, S., Van Ourti, T., Van Doorslaer, E. (2013). The socioeconomic health gradient across the life cycle: what role for selective mortality and institutionalization? Social Science and Medicine, 97: 66-74. PMCID: PMC3831059. PMID: 24161090.

Galama, T.J., Van Kippersluis, H. (2013), Health Inequalities through the Lens of Health Capital Theory: Issues, Solutions, and Future Directions. Research on Economic Inequality, 21: 263-284. PMCID: PMC3932058. PMID: 24570580. Link to working paper.

García-Gómez, P., Van Kippersluis, H., O’Donnell, O., Van Doorslaer, E. (2013). Long Term and Spillover Effects of Health Shocks on Employment and Income. Journal of Human Resources, 48(4): 873-909. PMCID: PMC4110210. PMID: 25067853.

Hessel, P., Avendano, M. (2013). Are economic recessions at the time of leaving school associated with worse physical functioning in later life? Annals of Epidemiology, 23(11): 708-15. PMCID: PMC4372657. PMID: 24051367.

Leist, A.K., Glymour, M.M., Mackenbach, J.P., Van Lenthe, F.J., Avendano, M. (2013).  Time away from work predicts later cognitive function: differences by activity during leave. Annals of Epidemiology, 23(8): 455-62. PMCID: PMC3832060. PMID: 23889855.

Lopez-Arana, S., Burdorf, A., Avendano, M. (2013). Trends in overweight by educational level in 33 low- and middle-income countries: the role of parity, age at first birth and breastfeeding. Obesity Reviews, 14(10): 806-17. PMCID: PMC3804307. PMID: 23782957.

Arroyave, I., Cardona, D., Burdorf, A., Avendano, M. (2013). The impact of increasing health insurance coverage on disparities in mortality: health care reform in Colombia, 1998-2007. American Journal of Public Health, 103(3): e100-e106. PMCID: PMC3673514. PMID: 23327277.

García-Gómez, P., Schokkaert, E., Van Ourti, T. (2013). Reference value sensitivity of measures of unfair health inequality. Research on Economic Inequality, 1; 21:157-192. PMCID: PMC4062312. PMID: 24954998.

Ravesteijn, B., Van Kippersluis, H., Van Doorslaer, E. (2013). The contribution of occupation to health inequality. Research on Economic Inequality, 1; 21: 311-332. PMCID: PMC4041295. PMID: 24899789.

Galama, T.J., Kapteyn, A., Fonseca, R., Michaud, P.C. (2013). A health production model with endogenous retirement. Health Economics, 22(8): 883-902. PMCID: PMC3498590. PMID: 22888062. Link to working paper.

Galama T.J., Hullegie, P., Meijer, E., Outcault, S. (2012). Is there empirical evidence for decreasing returns to scale in a health capital model? Health Economics, 21(9): 1080-100. PMCID: PMC3412934. PMID: 22628203. Link to working paper.

Bleichrodt, H., Rohde, K.I., Van Ourti, T. (2012). An experimental test of the concentration index. Journal of Health Economics, 31(1): 86-98. NIHMS ID: NIHMS588607. PMID: 22307035.

Erreygers, G., Clarke, P., Van Ourti, T. (2012).  “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?”–Distributional sensitivity in the measurement of socioeconomic inequality of health. Journal of Health Economics, 31(1): 257-70. PMCID: PMC3349439. PMID: 22204878. Link to working paper.

D’Uva, T.B., Lindeboom, M., O’Donnell, O., Van Doorslaer, E. (2011). Slipping Anchor? Testing the Vignettes Approach to Identification and Correction of Reporting Heterogeneity. Journal of Human Resources, 46(4): 875-906. PMCID: PMC3241933. PMID: 22184479. Link to working paper.

Avendano, M., Galama, T.J. (2011). Inequalities in mortality in the U.S. and Denmark: more alike than different. A commentary on Hoffmann. Social Science and Medicine, 73(11): 1569-72. PMID: 22001228.

D’Uva, T.B., Lindeboom, M., O’Donnell, O., Van Doorslaer, E. (2011). Education-related inequity in healthcare with heterogeneous reporting of health. Journal of the Royal Statistics Society, Series A, 174(3): 639-664. PMCID: PMC3175532. PMID: 21938140. Link to working paper.

Galama, T., Kapteyn, A. (2011). Grossman’s missing health threshold. Journal of Health Economics, 30(5): 1044-56. PMCID: PMC3177017. PMID: 21775003. Link to working paper.

Erreygers, G., Van Ourti, T. (2011). Measuring socioeconomic inequality in health, health care and health financing by means of rank-dependent indices: a recipe for good practice. Journal of Health Economics, 30(4): 685-94. PMCID: PMC3158909. PMID: 21683462.

Erreygers, G., Van Ourti, T. (2011). Putting the cart before the horse. A comment on Wagstaff on inequality measurement in the presence of binary variables. Health Economics, 20(10): 1161-5. PMCID: PMC3304083. PMID: 21674679.

Van Kippersluis, H., O’Donnell, O., Van Doorslaer, E. (2009), Long Run Returns to Education: Does Schooling Lead to an Extended Old Age? Journal of Human Resources, 46(4), 695-721. PMCID: PMC3160637. PMID: 21874068. Link to working paper

Working Papers / Papers Submitted

Galama, T.J., Lleras-Muney, A. and Van Kippersluis, H. (2020), The Effect of Education on Health and Mortality: A Review of Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Evidence. Oxford Handbook of Health Economics (forthcoming). Link to working paper .

Fonseca, R., Michaud, P., Galama, T.J. and Kapteyn, A. (2021). Accounting for the Rise of Health Spending and Longevity. Journal of the European Economic Association,19(1), pp.536-579.

Van Ourti, T., O’Donnell, O., Koç, H., de Koning, H., and Fracheboud, J. (2019). Effect of screening mammography on breast-cancer mortality: Quasi-experimental evidence from rollout of the Dutch population-based program with 17-year follow-up of a cohort. International Journal of Cancer.

Koc, H., O’Donnell, O., and Van Ourti, T. (2018). What Explains Education Disparities in Screening Mammography in the United States? A Comparison with The Netherlands. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 15(9), 1961

Galama, T.J., Lleras-Muney, A. and Van Kippersluis, H. (2018), The Effect of Education on Health and Mortality: A Review of Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Evidence. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance. Link to working paper .  DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190625979.013.7

Galama, T.J. and van Kippersluis H. (2018). A Theory of Socioeconomic Disparities in Health Over the Life Cycle. Economic Journal; Link to working paper.

Angrisani, M., Atella, V. and M. Brunetti, M. (2018). Public Health Insurance and Household Portfolio Choices: Unraveling Financial “Side Effects” of Medicare. Journal of Banking and Finance. Link to working paper.

Koc, H. and Van Kippersluis, H. (2017). Thought for Food: Understanding Education Disparities in Food Consumption. Journal of Human Capital (forthcoming)

Bago d’Uva, T.M, O’Donnell, O.A, and van Doorslaer, E.K.A. (2017). Who can predict their own demise? Heterogeneity in the accuracy and value of longevity expectations. Journal of the Economics of Aging. doi:10.1016/j.jeoa.2017.10.003

Hsieh, C.S. and Van Kippersluis, H. (2017). Smoking Initiation: Peers and Personality . Quantitative Economics, forthcoming  Link to working paper.

Ravesteijn, B., Van Kippersluis, H., Van Doorslaer, E. (2017). The wear and tear on health: what is the role of occupation? Health Economics (forthcoming) NIHMSID: 900657; Link to working paper

Van Kippersluis, H., and Rietveld, C.A. (2017). Pleiotropy-robust Mendelian Randomization. International Journal of Epidemiology, 1-10; Link to working paper

Angrisani, M., Hurd, M., Meijer, E., Parker, A. and Rohwedder, S. (2017). Personality and Employment Transitions at Older Ages: Direct and Indirect Effects through Non-Monetary Job Characteristics. Labour (early view). Link to working paper

Salvy, S.-J., de la Haye, K., Galama, T.J. and Goran, M.I. (2017). Home visitation programs: An untapped opportunity for the delivery of early childhood obesity prevention. Obesity Reviews. 18(2), pp.149-163.

Coveney, M., García Gómez, P., Van Doorslaer, E. and Van Ourti, T. (2016). Health Disparities by Income in Spain Before and After the Economic Crisis. Health Economics, 25(S2), pp.141-158. NIHMSID 821561; Link to working paper .

Arnold, M., Rentería, E., Conway, D.I., Van Ourti, T., and Soerjomataram, I. (2016). Global inequalities in cancer incidence and mortality in the 21st century. Cancer Causes and Control, 27(8): 999-1007. PMID: 27329211

Bijwaard, G.E. and Van Kippersluis, H. (2016). Efficiency of Health Investment: Education or Intelligence? Health Economics 25(9): 1056-1072

Aguila, E., Angrisani, M. and Blanco, L. (2016), Ownership of a bank account and health of older Hispanics, Economics Letters, 144, 41–44. PMCID: PMC5034945

O’Donnell, O., O’Neill, S., Van Ourti, T., Walsh, B. (2016). Conindex: Estimation of Concentration Indices. The Stata Journal, 16(1): 112-138. NIHMS ID: NIHMS756115; PMCID: PMC4819995

Croezen, S., Avendano, M., Burdorf, A., Van Lenthe, F. (2015). Social participation and depression in old age: A fixed effects analysis in ten European countries. American Journal of Epidemiology, 182(2): 168-76. PMCID: PMC4493978. PMID 26025236

Noelke, C., Avendano, M. (2015). Who Suffers During Recessions? Economic Downturns, Job Loss, and Cardiovascular Disease in Older Americans. American Journal of Epidemiology, 182(10): 873-82. PMC Journal – In Process. PMID: 26476283

Arroyave, I., Hessel, P., Burdorf, A., Rodriguez-Garcia, J., Cardona, D., Avendano, M. (2015). The public Health Impact of Economic Fluctuations in a Latin American Country: Mortality and the Business Cycle in Colombia in the Period 1980-2010. International Journal for Equity in Health, 14:48. PMCID: PMC4477489. PMID: 26014135.

Avendano, M., Hessel, P. (2015). The income inequality hypothesis rejected? European Journal of Epidemiology, 30(8): 595-598. NIHMS ID: NIHMS723814. PMID: 26377701

Orsini, C., Avendano, M. (2015). Macro-economic conditions and infant health: a changing relationship for black and white infants in the United States. PLoS One. PMCID: PMC4431876. PMID: 25974070

Van Hedel, K., Van Lenthe, F.J., Avendano, M., Bopp, M., Esnaola, S., Kovács, K., Martikainen, P., Regidor, E., Mackenbach, J.P. (2015). Marital status, labour force activity and mortality: a study in the USA and six European countries. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. 43(5): 469-80. PMCID: PMC4673396. PMID: 25868643

Montez, J.K., Martikainen, P., Remes, H., Avendano, M. (2015). Work-Family Context and the Longevity Disadvantage of US Women. Social Forces. 93, 4: 1567-1597. NIHMS ID: NIHMS755376

Bijwaard, G.E., Van Kippersluis, H., Veenman, J. (2015). Education and health: The role of cognitive ability. Journal of Health Economics, 42: 29-43. PMCID: PMC4478201. PMID: 25912224. Link to working paper.

Avendano, M., Berkman, L.F., Brugiavini, A., Pasini, G. (2015). The long-run effect of maternity leave benefits on mental health: Evidence from European countries. Social Science and Medicine, 132: 45-53. PMCID: PMC4400242. PMID: 25792339. Link to working paper.

Van Hedel, K., Avendano, M., Berkman, L.F., Bopp, M., Deboosere, P., Lundberg, O., Martikainen, P., Menvielle, G., Van Lenthe, F.J., Mackenbach, J.P. (2015). The contribution of national disparities to international differences in mortality between the United States and 7 European countries. American Journal of Public Health, 105(4): e112-9. PMID: 25713947.

Cylus, J., Glymour, M.M., Avendano, M. (2015). Health effects of unemployment benefit program generosity. American Journal of Public Health, 105(2): 317-23. PMID: 25521897.

De Vries, E., Arroyave, I., Pardo, C., Wiesner, C., Murillo, R., Forman, D., Burdorf, A., Avendano, M. (2015). Trends in inequalities in premature cancer mortality by educational level in Colombia, 1998-2007. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 69(5): 408-15. PMCID: PMC4393795. PMID: 25492898.

Garcia-Gomez, P., Schokkaert, E., Van Ourti, T., Bago d’Uva, T. (2015). Inequity in the Face of Death. Health Economics. 24(10): 1348-1367. NIHMS ID: NIHMS755422. PMID: 25073459.

O’Donnell, O., Van Doorslaer, E., Van Ourti, T. (2015). Health and inequality. In Atkinson A.B., Bourguignon F.J. (eds.), North-Holland Handbook of Income Distribution, Elsevier: 1419-1533. Link to working paper.

Rietveld, C.A., Kippersluis, H. and Thurik, A.R. (2015). Self‐employment and health: Barriers or benefits?. Health Economics, 24(10): 1302-1313. NIHMS ID: NIHMS759755

Van Ourti, T., Erreygers, G., Clarke, P. (2014). Measuring Equality and Equity in Health and Health Care. In Culyer, T. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Health Economics, Vol. 2, Elsevier: 234-239.

Hessel, P., Vandoros, S., Avendano, M. (2014). The differential impact of the financial crisis on health in Ireland and Greece: a quasi-experimental approach. Public Health, 128(10): 911-9. PMCID: PMC4372657. PMID: 25369355.

Lopez-Arana, S., Avendano, M., Van Lenthe, F.J., Burdorf, A. (2014). Trends in overweight among women differ by occupational class: results from 33 low- and middle-income countries in the period 1992-2009. International Journal of Obesity, 38(1): 97-105. PMCID: PMC3742714. PMID: 23649471.

Van Kippersluis, H., Galama, T.J. (2014). Wealth and Health Behavior: Testing the Concept of a Health Cost. European Economic Review. 72: 197-220. PMCID: PMC4266945. PMID: 25530621. Link to working paper.

Riumallo-Herl, C., Basu, S., Stuckler, D., Courtin, E., Avendano, M. (2014). Job loss, wealth and depression during the Great Recession in the USA and Europe. International Journal of Epidemiology, 43(5): 1508-17. PMCID: PMC4190512. PMID: 24942142.

Cylus, J., Glymour, M.M., Avendano, M. (2014).  Cylus et al. respond to “unrealized benefits?” American Journal of Epidemiology, 180(1): 56-7. PMCID: PMC4133557. PMID: 24939979.

Cylus, J., Glymour, M.M., Avendano, M. (2014). Do generous unemployment benefit programs reduce suicide rates? A state fixed-effect analysis covering 1968-2008. American Journal of Epidemiology, 180(1): 45-52. PMCID: PMC4070935. PMID: 24939978.

Arroyave, I., Burdorf, A., Cardona, D., Avendano, M. (2014). Socioeconomic inequalities in premature mortality in Colombia, 1998-2007: the double burden of non-communicable diseases and injuries. Preventative Medicine, 64: 41-7. PMCID: PMC4067972. PMID: 24674854.

Riumallo-Herl, C.J., Kawachi, I., Avendano, M. (2014). Social capital, mental health and biomarkers in Chile: assessing the effects of social capital in a middle-income country. Social Science and Medicine, 105: 47-58. PMCID: PMC4089037. PMID: 24495808.

Rodríguez López, S., Montero, P., Carmenate, M., Avendano, M. (2014). Functional decline over 2 years in older Spanish adults: evidence from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Geriatrics and Gerontology International, 14(2): 403-12. PMCID: PMC3843990. PMID: 23844926.

Avendano, M., Kawachi, I. (2014). Why do Americans have shorter life expectancy and worse health than do people in other high-income countries? Annual Review of Public Health, 35: 307-25. PMCID: PMC4112220. PMID: 24422560.

Leist, A.K., Hessel, P., Avendano, M. (2014). Do economic recessions during early and mid-adulthood influence cognitive function in older age? Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 68(2): 151-8. PMCID: PMC4067969. PMID: 24258197.

Baeten, S., Van Ourti, T., Van Doorslaer, E. (2013). Rising inequalities in income and health in China: who is left behind? Journal of Health Economics, 32(6): 1214-29. PMCID: PMC3880577. PMID: 24189450.

Baeten, S., Van Ourti, T., Van Doorslaer, E. (2013). The socioeconomic health gradient across the life cycle: what role for selective mortality and institutionalization? Social Science and Medicine, 97: 66-74. PMCID: PMC3831059. PMID: 24161090.

Galama, T.J., Van Kippersluis, H. (2013), Health Inequalities through the Lens of Health Capital Theory: Issues, Solutions, and Future Directions. Research on Economic Inequality, 21: 263-284. PMCID: PMC3932058. PMID: 24570580. Link to working paper.

García-Gómez, P., Van Kippersluis, H., O’Donnell, O., Van Doorslaer, E. (2013). Long Term and Spillover Effects of Health Shocks on Employment and Income. Journal of Human Resources, 48(4): 873-909. PMCID: PMC4110210. PMID: 25067853.

Hessel, P., Avendano, M. (2013). Are economic recessions at the time of leaving school associated with worse physical functioning in later life? Annals of Epidemiology, 23(11): 708-15. PMCID: PMC4372657. PMID: 24051367.

Leist, A.K., Glymour, M.M., Mackenbach, J.P., Van Lenthe, F.J., Avendano, M. (2013).  Time away from work predicts later cognitive function: differences by activity during leave. Annals of Epidemiology, 23(8): 455-62. PMCID: PMC3832060. PMID: 23889855.

Lopez-Arana, S., Burdorf, A., Avendano, M. (2013). Trends in overweight by educational level in 33 low- and middle-income countries: the role of parity, age at first birth and breastfeeding. Obesity Reviews, 14(10): 806-17. PMCID: PMC3804307. PMID: 23782957.

Arroyave, I., Cardona, D., Burdorf, A., Avendano, M. (2013). The impact of increasing health insurance coverage on disparities in mortality: health care reform in Colombia, 1998-2007. American Journal of Public Health, 103(3): e100-e106. PMCID: PMC3673514. PMID: 23327277.

García-Gómez, P., Schokkaert, E., Van Ourti, T. (2013). Reference value sensitivity of measures of unfair health inequality. Research on Economic Inequality, 1; 21:157-192. PMCID: PMC4062312. PMID: 24954998.

Ravesteijn, B., Van Kippersluis, H., Van Doorslaer, E. (2013). The contribution of occupation to health inequality. Research on Economic Inequality, 1; 21: 311-332. PMCID: PMC4041295. PMID: 24899789.

Galama, T.J., Kapteyn, A., Fonseca, R., Michaud, P.C. (2013). A health production model with endogenous retirement. Health Economics, 22(8): 883-902. PMCID: PMC3498590. PMID: 22888062. Link to working paper.

Galama T.J., Hullegie, P., Meijer, E., Outcault, S. (2012). Is there empirical evidence for decreasing returns to scale in a health capital model? Health Economics, 21(9): 1080-100. PMCID: PMC3412934. PMID: 22628203. Link to working paper.

Bleichrodt, H., Rohde, K.I., Van Ourti, T. (2012). An experimental test of the concentration index. Journal of Health Economics, 31(1): 86-98. NIHMS ID: NIHMS588607. PMID: 22307035.

Erreygers, G., Clarke, P., Van Ourti, T. (2012).  “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?”–Distributional sensitivity in the measurement of socioeconomic inequality of health. Journal of Health Economics, 31(1): 257-70. PMCID: PMC3349439. PMID: 22204878. Link to working paper.

D’Uva, T.B., Lindeboom, M., O’Donnell, O., Van Doorslaer, E. (2011). Slipping Anchor? Testing the Vignettes Approach to Identification and Correction of Reporting Heterogeneity. Journal of Human Resources, 46(4): 875-906. PMCID: PMC3241933. PMID: 22184479. Link to working paper.

Avendano, M., Galama, T.J. (2011). Inequalities in mortality in the U.S. and Denmark: more alike than different. A commentary on Hoffmann. Social Science and Medicine, 73(11): 1569-72. PMID: 22001228.

D’Uva, T.B., Lindeboom, M., O’Donnell, O., Van Doorslaer, E. (2011). Education-related inequity in healthcare with heterogeneous reporting of health. Journal of the Royal Statistics Society, Series A, 174(3): 639-664. PMCID: PMC3175532. PMID: 21938140. Link to working paper.

Galama, T., Kapteyn, A. (2011). Grossman’s missing health threshold. Journal of Health Economics, 30(5): 1044-56. PMCID: PMC3177017. PMID: 21775003. Link to working paper.

Erreygers, G., Van Ourti, T. (2011). Measuring socioeconomic inequality in health, health care and health financing by means of rank-dependent indices: a recipe for good practice. Journal of Health Economics, 30(4): 685-94. PMCID: PMC3158909. PMID: 21683462.

Erreygers, G., Van Ourti, T. (2011). Putting the cart before the horse. A comment on Wagstaff on inequality measurement in the presence of binary variables. Health Economics, 20(10): 1161-5. PMCID: PMC3304083. PMID: 21674679.

Van Kippersluis, H., O’Donnell, O., Van Doorslaer, E. (2009), Long Run Returns to Education: Does Schooling Lead to an Extended Old Age? Journal of Human Resources, 46(4), 695-721. PMCID: PMC3160637. PMID: 21874068. Link to working paper
Our Research in the News:

Kevin Thom’s research discussed in The Washington Post here.

Identifying Modifiable Aspects of Gene-by-Environment Interplay in Later-Life Cognitive Decline

van Alten, Sjoerd and Domingue, Benjamin W and Faul, Jessica D. and Galama, Titus J. and Marees, Andries T, GWAS 2.0 – Correcting for Volunteer Bias in GWAS Uncovers Novel Genetic Variants and Increases Heritability Estimates (June 12, 2023). CESR-Schaeffer Working Paper No. 2023-001, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4493214 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4493214

van de Kraats, Coen and Galama, Titus J. and Lindeboom, Maarten and Deng, Zichen, Why Life Gets Better after Age 50, for Some: Mental Well-Being and the Social Norm of Work. IZA Discussion Paper No. 17586, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5080575

Pietro Biroli, Titus Galama, Stephanie von Hinke, Hans van Kippersluis, Cornelius A Rietveld, Kevin Thom, The Economics and Econometrics of Gene–Environment Interplay, The Review of Economic Studies, 2025;, rdaf034, https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaf034

Newby D, Orgeta V, Marshall CR, Lourida I, Albertyn CP, Tamburin S, Raymont V, Veldsman M, Koychev I, Bauermeister S, Weisman D, Foote IF, Bucholc M, Leist AK, Tang EYH, Tai XY, The Deep Dementia Phenotyping (DEMON) Network, Llewellyn DJ, Ranson JM. Artificial Intelligence for Dementia Prevention. Alzheimers Dement. 2023 Oct 14;19(12):5952–5969. doi: 10.1002/alz.13463. Available in PMC: 2024 Dec 1. PMCID: PMC10843720. PMID: 37837420.

Van Alten S, Domingue BW, Faul J, Galama T, Marees AT. Reweighting UK Biobank corrects for pervasive selection bias due to volunteering. Int J Epidemiol. 2024 Apr 11;53(3):dyae054. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyae054. PMID: 38715336; PMCID: PMC11076923.

Lyall DM, Kormilitzin A, Lancaster C, Sousa J, Petermann-Rocha F, Buckley C, Harshfield EL, Iveson MH, Madan CR, McArdle R, Newby D, Orgeta V, Tang E, Tamburin S, Thakur LS, Lourida I; Deep Dementia Phenotyping (DEMON) Network; Llewellyn DJ, Ranson JM. Artificial intelligence for dementia-Applied models and digital health. Alzheimers Dement. 2023 Jul 26. doi: 10.1002/alz.13391. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37496259.

Van Kippersluis, H., Biroli, P.., Dias Perreira, R., Galama, T.J., von Hinke. S.,  Meddens, F., Muslimova, D., Slob, S., de Vlaming, Rietveld, N. (2023), Overcoming Attenuation Bias in Regressions using Polygenic Indices: A Comparison of Approaches. Nature Communications, 14, 4473 (2023). Link to working paper

Bierut, L., Biroli, P., Galama, T.J., and Thom, K. (2023). Challenges in studying the interplay of genes and environment. A study of childhood financial distress moderating genetic predisposition for peak smoking. Journal of Economic Psychology. PMID: 37484514; PMCID: PMC10358858.

Klee, M, Leist, A.K., Veldsman, M., Ranson, J.M. and Llewellyn, D. J.(2023), Socioeconomic Deprivation, Genetic Risk, and Incident Dementia, American Journal of Preventive Medicine 64, no. 5 (2023): 621-630.

Ward, David D; Ranson, Janice M; Wallace, Lindsay M K; Llewellyn, David J; Rockwood, Kenneth (2022), Frailty, lifestyle, genetics and dementia risk, J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 93, 343-350

Kolli, Ajay; Zhou, Yunshu; Chung, Grace; Ware, Erin B; Langa, Kenneth M; Ehrlich, Joshua R (2022), Interactions between the apolipoprotein E4 gene and modifiable risk factors for cognitive impairment: a nationally representative panel study. BMC geriatrics, 22(1), 938.

Tai, Xin You; Veldsman, Michele; Lyall, Donald M; Littlejohns, Thomas J; Langa, Kenneth M; Husain, Masud; Ranson, Janice; Llewellyn, David J (2022), Cardiometabolic multimorbidity, genetic risk, and dementia: a prospective cohort study. Healthy longevity (2022), 3, e428-e436

Nihat, A., Ranson, J., Dominque, H., McNiven, K., Mok, T, Rudge, P., Collinge, J, Llewelyn, D., Mead, S. (2022), Development of prognostic models for survival and care status in sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Brain Communications, 4(4) fcac201

Bakulski, K.M., Vadari, H.S., Faul, J.D., Heeringa, S.G., Kardia, S.L., Langa, K.M., Smith, J.A., Manly, J.J., Mitchell, C.M., Benke, K.S. and Ware, E.B., 2021. Cumulative genetic risk and APOE ε4 are independently associated with dementia status in a multiethnic, population-based cohort. Neurology Genetics, 7(2).

Galama, T.J. and van Kippersluis, H. (2022), Economic theories of health across the life course, Elgar Handbook on Health Inequalities Across The Life Course

Dias-Pereira, R., Biroli, P., Galama, T.J., von Hinke, S., van Kippersluis, H., Rietveld, C.A., and Thom, K. (2022), Gene-by-Environment Interplay in the Social Sciences. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance. Working Paper.

Smith, J.A., Kho, M., Zhao, W., Yu, M., Mitchell, C., Faul, J.D. (2021), Genetic effects and gene-by-education interactions on episodic memory performance and decline in an aging population. Social science & medicine, 271, 112039. PubMed PMID: 30449520; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6510651; DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.11.019.

Faul JD, Kho M, Zhao W, Rumfelt KE, Yu M, Mitchell C, Smith JA. (2021) Trans-ethnic Meta-analysis of Interactions between Genetics and Early Life Socioeconomic Context on Memory Performance and Decline in Older Americans. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2021 Aug 27:glab255. doi:10.1093/gerona/glab255. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34448475.

Siervo, Mario; Shannon, Oliver M; Llewellyn, David J; Stephan, Blossom Cm; Fontana, Luigi (2021), Mediterranean diet and cognitive function: From methodology to mechanisms of action. Free radical biology & medicine, 176 105-117

Barcellos, S., Carvalho, L. and Turley, P. (2021). Distributional Effects of Education on Health, Forthcoming at the Journal of Human Resources.

Kuźma, Elżbieta; Littlejohns, Thomas J; Khawaja, Anthony P; Llewellyn, David J; Ukoumunne, Obioha C; Thiem, Ulrich (2021), Visual Impairment, Eye Diseases, and Dementia Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Journal of Alzheimer’s disease (JAD), 83, 1073-1087,

Fonseca, R., Michaud, P., Galama, T.J. and Kapteyn, A. (2021). Accounting for the Rise of Health Spending and Longevity. Journal of the European Economic Association,19(1), pp.536-579.

Ranson, Janice M; Rittman, Timothy; Hayat, Shabina; Brayne, Carol; Jessen, Frank; Blennow, Kaj; van Duijn, Cornelia; Barkhof, Frederik; Tang, Eugene; Mummery, Catherine J; Stephan, Blossom C M; Altomare, Daniele; Frisoni, Giovanni B; Ribaldi, Federica; Molinuevo, José Luis; Scheltens, Philip; Llewellyn, David J; European Task Force for Brain Health Services (2021), Modifiable risk factors for dementia and dementia risk profiling. A user manual for Brain Health Services-part 2 of 6, Alzheimer’s research & therapy, 13, 169

Marees, A.T., Smit, D.J.A., Abdellaoui, A., Nivard, M.G., van den Brink, W., Denys, D., Galama, T.J., Verweij, K.J.H., Derks, E.M. (2021), Genetic correlates of socio-economic status influence the pattern of shared heritability across mental health traits, Nature Human Behavior, pp.1-9.

Faul, J.D., Ware, E.B., Kabeto, M.U., Fisher, J., Langa, K.M. (2021), The effect of childhood socioeconomic position and social mobility on cognitive function and change among older adults: A comparison between the United States and England, Journal of Gerontology, Series B, 76, pS51-S63.

Fu, M., Bakulski, K.M., Higgins, C. and Ware, E.B. (2021). Mendelian Randomization of Dyslipidemia on Cognitive Impairment Among Older Americans. Frontiers in neurology, 12, p.1002.

Ware, E.B., Morataya, C., Fu, M. and Bakulski, K.M. (2021). Type 2 Diabetes and Cognitive Status in the Health and Retirement Study: a Mendelian Randomization Approach. Frontiers in genetics, 12, p.634767.

Bakulski, K.M., Vadari, H.S., Faul, J.D., Heeringa, S.G., Kardia, S.L., Langa, K.M., Smith, J.A., Manly, J.J., Mitchell, C.M., Benke, K.S. and Ware, E.B. (2021). Cumulative Genetic Risk and APOE ε4 Are Independently Associated With Dementia Status in a Multiethnic, Population-Based Cohort. Neurology Genetics, 7(2).

Faul, J.D., Ware, E.B., Kabeto, M.U., Langa, K.M., Llewellyn, D.J., Galama, T. (2020), Lifestyle and Genetic Risk: Revisiting the Association with Incident Dementia. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 2020 16:e044220

Zhang, Na; Ranson, Janice M; Zheng, Zhi-Jie; Hannon, Eilis; Zhou, Zhenwei; Kong, Xuejun; Llewellyn, David J; King, Daniel A; Huang, Jie (2021), Interaction between genetic predisposition, smoking, and dementia risk: a population-based cohort study, Scientific reports, 11, 1295

Barth, D., Papageorge, N. and Thom, K. (2020), Genetic Endowments and Wealth Inequality, Journal of Political Economy. doi: 10.1086/70541

Papageorge, N. and Thom, K. (2019), Genes, Education, and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study, Journal of the European Economic Association.

Clark, Christopher E; Thomas, Daniel; Llewellyn, David J; Ferrucci, Luigi; Bandinelli, Stefania; Campbell, John L (2019), Systolic inter-arm blood pressure difference and risk of cognitive decline in older people: a cohort study. The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 70, e472-e48

Ware, Erin B; Faul, Jessica D; Mitchell, Colter M; Bakulski, Kelly M (2020), Considering the APOE locus in Alzheimer’s disease polygenic scores in the Health and Retirement Study: a longitudinal panel study, BMC Medical Genomics, 13, 164

Elliott, Emma; Green, Claire; Llewellyn, David J; Quinn, Terence J (2019), Accuracy of Telephone-Based Cognitive Screening Tests: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Current Alzheimer Research, 17, 460-47

Taylor, J.Y., Ware, E.B., Wright, M.L., Smith, J.A., Kardia, S.L.R. (2019), Using Genetic Burden Scores for Gene-by-Methylation Interaction Analysis on Metabolic Syndrome in African Americans. Biological Research for Nursing, 21(3): 279-285. doi: 10.1177/1099800419828486. Epub 2019 Feb 19. PubMed PMID: 30781968.

Galama, T.J. and van Kippersluis H. (2018). A Theory of Socioeconomic Disparities in Health Over the Life Cycle. Economic Journal; Link to working paper

Schmitz, L.L., Gard, A.M., Ware, E.B. (2019), Examining sex differences in pleiotropic effects for depression and smoking using polygenic and gene-region aggregation techniques. American Journal of Medical Genetics, part B, Neuropsychiatric Genetics. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.b.32748. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31219244; NIHMSID:NIHMS1042483.

Lourida, Ilianna; Hannon, Eilis; Littlejohns, Thomas J; Langa, Kenneth M; Hyppönen, Elina; Kuzma, Elzbieta; Llewellyn, David J (2019),  Association of Lifestyle and Genetic Risk With Incidence of Dementia, JAMA, 322. 430-437, PMC ID 6231970

Galama, T.J., Lleras-Muney, A. and Van Kippersluis, H. (2018), The Effect of Education on Health and Mortality: A Review of Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Evidence. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance. Link to working paper. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190625979.013.7

Kuźma, E., Lourida, A., Moore, S.F., Levine, D.A., Obioha C. Ukoumunne, O.C., Llewellyn, D.J. (2018). Stroke and dementia risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Alzheimers & Dementia, 1-11

Kuźma, E., Hannon, E., Zhou, A., Lourida, I., Bethel, A., Levine, D.A., Lunnon, K., Thompson-Coon, J., Hyppönen, E., and Llewellyn, D.(2018), Which risk factors causally influence dementia? A systematic review of Mendelian randomization studies, Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 64, pp. 181–193

Barcellos, S.H., Carvalho, S., Turley, P. (2018), Education can Reduce Health Differences Related to Genetic Risk of Obesity, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) of the United States

Working Papers / Papers Submitted

PhD Thesis: Genetics, Human Capital Formation and the Intergenerational Transmission of Socioeconomic Status (2024), Sjoerd van Alten (supervisor T.J. Galama), VU Amsterdam.

Van Alten, S., Domingue, B.W., Faul J., Galama, T.J., and Marees, A.T. (2022b), Correcting for volunteer bias in GWAS uncovers novel genetic variants and increases heritability estimates. Working Paper.

Galama, T.J. and van Kippersluis, H. (2022), Human-Capital Formation: The Importance of Endogenous Longevity. Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group, Working Paper 2022-009

Van Alten, S., Domingue, B.W., Galama, T.J. and Marees, A.T. (2022a), Reweighting the UK Biobank to reflect its underlying sampling population substantially reduces pervasive selection bias due to volunteering. Working Paper.

Carvalho, L. (2022), Genetics, Economic Choices, and Income. In preparation.

Van Alten, S. and Galama, T. (2021), Genetic and environmental determinants of socioeconomic status: evidence from within-family models in the Dutch Lifelines cohort. In preparation.

Aranda, R., Galama, T., and Thom, K. (2022), The Long-Run Health Consequences of Title IX. In preparation

Galama, T., Munteanu, A and Thom, K. (2022), Intergenerational Consequences of Compulsory Schooling. In preparation.

Barcellos, S., Carvalho, L. and Turley, P. (2021). The Effect of Education on the Relationship between Genetics, Early-Life Disadvantages, and Later-Life SES (under revision at the Journal of Political Economy). NBER Working Paper No. w28750

Fu, M., Faul, J.D., Jin, Y., Ware, E.B. and Bakulski, K.M., 2021. Smoking and Dementia Status Among Older Americans: A Mendelian Randomization Analysis. Link to working paper.

Fu, M., Ware, E.B., Faul, J.D., Bakulski, K.M. (2020), Mendelian randomization of smoking behavior on cognitive status among older Americans. (medRxiv) 2019.12.11.19014522; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2019.12.11.19014522. Link to working paper.

Ware, E.B., Schmitz, L.L., Faul, J.D., Gard, A., Mitchell, C., Smith, J.A., Zhao, W., Weir, D., Kardia, S.L.R. (2019), Heterogeneity in polygenic scores for common human traits. In review.

Jeong, Y., Papageorge, N.W., Skira, M.M. and Thom, K. (2021), Genetic endowments, Alzheimer’s disease, and economic outcomes. In preparation.

Van Alten, S., Galama, T.J. and Thom, K. (2021), The distributional consequences of region-specific exposure to Chinese import competition: evidence from a shift-share analysis (1990-2010). In preparation.

Warly Solsberg, C., van Alten, S., Geier, E.G., Bonham, L., Derks, E.M., Sirota, M., Galama, T.J., Yokoyama, J.S., Marees, A.T. (2021), Conducting a genome wide association study: a roadmap and tutorial. In preparation.

Angrisani, Faul, J., Galama, T. and Kabeto, M. (2021), Money Management Problems as a Precursor of Cognitive Impairment and Dementia. In preparation

Biroli, P., Galama, T.J., Marees, A., et al. (2021), Sources of Inequality at Birth: the Interplay Between Genes and Parental Socioeconomic Status. In preparation

Bakulski, K.M., Petrowicz, B., Vadari, H., Faul, J.D., Manly, J., Kardia, S.K., Heeringa, S., Ware, E.B. (2019), Early life exposures and risk for dementia in the Health and Retirement Study. In preparation

Faul, J.D., Benke, K., Bakulski, K.M., Ware, E.B. (2019), Within and Trans-Racial PGS and Gene-Region Associations. In preparation.

Brandt, D., Bakulski, K.M., Faul, J.D., Vadari, H.S., Ware, E.B. (2019) Occupational mental and physical work demands associated with cognitive status in older Americans. In preparation.

Marshall III, W., Ware, E.B., Faul, J.D., Vadari, H.S., Bakulski, K.M. (2019), Family history of Alzheimer’s Disease and cumulative genetic risk in older Americans. In preparation.

Mitchell CM, Faul JD, Kho M, Zhao W, Ware EB, Hillman TJ, Smith JA (2022). Genetic burden and early life socioeconomic status jointly influence memory performance and decline in older adults. Revise and Resubmit at Biodemography Soc Biol. In preparation.
Human Capital, Health and Longevity: Explaining the Health Gradient

Galama, T.J., Lleras-Muney, A. and Van Kippersluis, H. (2020), The Effect of Education on Health and Mortality: A Review of Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Evidence. Oxford Handbook of Health Economics (forthcoming). Link to working paper .

Fonseca, R., Michaud, P., Galama, T.J. and Kapteyn, A. (2021). Accounting for the Rise of Health Spending and Longevity. Journal of the European Economic Association,19(1), pp.536-579.

Galama, T.J., Lleras-Muney, A. and Van Kippersluis, H. (2018), The Effect of Education on Health and Mortality: A Review of Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Evidence. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance. Link to working paper . DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190625979.013.7

Galama, T.J. and van Kippersluis H. (2018). A Theory of Socioeconomic Disparities in Health Over the Life Cycle. Economic Journal; Link to working paper.

Salvy, S.-J., de la Haye, K., Galama, T.J. and Goran, M.I. (2017). Home visitation programs: An untapped opportunity for the delivery of early childhood obesity prevention. Obesity Reviews. 18(2), pp.149-163.

Van Kippersluis, H., Galama, T.J. (2014). Wealth and Health Behavior: Testing the Concept of a Health Cost. European Economic Review. 72:197-220. PMID: 25530621. Link to working paper.

Galama, T.J., Van Kippersluis, H. (2013), Health Inequalities through the Lens of Health Capital Theory: Issues, Solutions, and Future Directions. Research on Economic Inequality, 21: 263-284. PMID: 24570580. Link to working paper.

Working Papers

Galama, T.J., Morgan, R. and Saavedra, J.E. (2017), Wealthier, happier and more self-sufficient: when anti-poverty programs improve economic and subjective wellbeing at a reduced cost to taxpayers. NBER working paper 24090

García-Gómez, P., Galama, T.J., Van Doorslaer, E., and López-Nicolás, A. (2017). Interactions between Financial Incentives and Health in the Early Retirement Decision. CESR Working Paper No. 2017-004

Galama , T.J. and Van Kippersluis, H. (2015), A Theory of Education and Health. CESR Working Paper #2015-001.

Galama, T.J. (2015), A Contribution to Health-Capital Theory. CESR Working Paper #2015-004.
Identifying Critical Stages of Life and Modifiable Aspects of Environment Moderating Genetic Risk for Unhealthy Behaviors

Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO)

van Alten, Sjoerd and Domingue, Benjamin W and Faul, Jessica D. and Galama, Titus J. and Marees, Andries T, GWAS 2.0 – Correcting for Volunteer Bias in GWAS Uncovers Novel Genetic Variants and Increases Heritability Estimates (June 12, 2023). CESR-Schaeffer Working Paper No. 2023-001, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4493214 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4493214

van de Kraats, Coen and Galama, Titus J. and Lindeboom, Maarten and Deng, Zichen, Why Life Gets Better after Age 50, for Some: Mental Well-Being and the Social Norm of Work. IZA Discussion Paper No. 17586, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5080575

Pietro Biroli, Titus Galama, Stephanie von Hinke, Hans van Kippersluis, Cornelius A Rietveld, Kevin Thom, The Economics and Econometrics of Gene–Environment Interplay, The Review of Economic Studies, 2025;, rdaf034, https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaf034

van Alten S, Domingue BW, Faul J, Galama T, Marees AT. Reweighting UK Biobank corrects for pervasive selection bias due to volunteering. Int J Epidemiol. 2024 Apr 11;53(3):dyae054. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyae054. PMID: 38715336; PMCID: PMC11076923.

van Kippersluis, H., Biroli, P.., Dias Perreira, R., Galama, T.J., von Hinke. S., Meddens, F., Muslimova, D., Slob, S., de Vlaming, Rietveld, N. (2023), Overcoming Attenuation Bias in Regressions using Polygenic Indices: A Comparison of Approaches. Nature Communications, 14, 4473 (2023). Link to working paper

Bierut, L., Biroli, P., Galama, T.J., and Thom, K. (2023). Challenges in studying the interplay of genes and environment. A study of childhood financial distress moderating genetic predisposition for peak smoking. Journal of Economic Psychology. PMID: 37484514; PMCID: PMC10358858.

Galama, T.J. and van Kippersluis, H. (2022), Economic theories of health across the life course, Elgar Handbook on Health Inequalities Across The Life Course

Dias-Pereira, R., Biroli, P., Galama, T.J., von Hinke, S., van Kippersluis, H., Rietveld, C.A., and Thom, K. (2022), Gene-by-Environment Interplay in the Social Sciences. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance. Working Paper.

Fonseca, R., Michaud, P., Galama, T.J. and Kapteyn, A. (2021). Accounting for the Rise of Health Spending and Longevity. Journal of the European Economic Association,19(1), pp.536-579.

Marees, A.T., Smit, D.J.A., Abdellaoui, A., Nivard, M.G., van den Brink, W., Denys, D., Galama, T.J., Verweij, K.J.H., Derks, E.M. (2021), Genetic correlates of socio-economic status influence the pattern of shared heritability across mental health traits, Nature Human Behavior, pp.1-9.

Marees, A.T., Gamazon, E.R., Gerring, Z., Vorspan, F.. Fingal, J., van den Brink, W. Smit, D.J.A, Verweij, K.J.H., Kranzler, H.R., Sherva, R., Farrer, L., International Cannabis Consortium, Gelernter, J., Derks, E.M. (2020). Post-GWAS analysis of six substance use traits improves the identification and functional interpretation of genetic risk loci, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 206, p.107703.

Clergue-Duval, V., Nicolas-Sacy, L., Karsinti, E., Zerdazi, E.-H., Laplanche, J.-L.., Brousse, G., Marees, A.T., Derks, E.M., Henry, P., Bellivier, F., Vorspan, F., Bloch, V. (2021), Risk and protective factors of lifetime cocaine-associated chest pain. Frontiers in psychiatry, 12 (do: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.704276)

Working Papers / Papers Submitted

PhD Thesis: Genetics, Human Capital Formation and the Intergenerational Transmission of Socioeconomic Status (2024), Sjoerd van Alten (supervisor T.J. Galama), VU Amsterdam.

Galama, T.J. and van Kippersluis, H. (2022), Human-Capital Formation: The Importance of Endogenous Longevity. Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group, Working Paper 2022-009

Van Alten, S., Domingue, B.W., Galama, T.J. and Marees, A.T. (2022a), Reweighting the UK Biobank to reflect its underlying sampling population substantially reduces pervasive selection bias due to volunteering. Working Paper.

Van Alten, S. and Galama, T. (2021), Genetic and environmental determinants of socioeconomic status: evidence from within-family models in the Dutch Lifelines cohort. In preparation.

Van Alten, S., Galama, T.J. and Thom, K. (2021), The distributional consequences of region-specific exposure to Chinese import competition: evidence from a shift-share analysis (1990-2010). In preparation.

Aranda, R., Galama, T., and Thom, K. (2022), The Long-Run Health Consequences of Title IX. In preparation

Galama, T., Munteanu, A and Thom, K. (2022), Intergenerational Consequences of Compulsory Schooling. In preparation.

Angrisani, Faul, J., Galama, T. and Kabeto, M. (2021), Money Management Problems as a Precursor of Cognitive Impairment and Dementia. In preparation

Biroli, P., Galama, T.J., Marees, A., et al. (2021), Sources of Inequality at Birth: the Interplay Between Genes and Parental Socioeconomic Status. In preparation

Van Alten, S., Domingue, B.W., Galama, T.J. and Marees, A.T. (2021), The effects of demographic-based selection bias on GWAS results in the UK Biobank. In preparation.

Warly Solsberg, C., van Alten, S., Geier, E.G., Bonham, L., Derks, E.M., Sirota, M., Galama, T.J., Yokoyama, J.S., Marees, A.T. (2021), Conducting a genome wide association study: a roadmap and tutorial. In preparation.

van de Kraats, C., Galama, T.J. and Lindeboom, M. (2020). Unpacking the U-shape in mental well-being: the role of unemployment and disability

van de Kraats, C., Galama, T.J. and Lindeboom, M. (2020). The social norm of work and the U-shape in mental health.

Clergue-Duval, V., Nicolas-Sacy, L., Karsinti, E., Zerdazi, E., Laplanche, J-L.,Brousse, G., Marees, A.T., Derks, E.M., Henry, P., Bellivier, F., Vorspan, F., Bloch, V. (2020). Cocaine associated chest pain episodes are related to the intensity of cocaine use rather than to the genetic factors.

García-Gómez, P., Galama, T.J., Van Doorslaer, E., and López-Nicolás, A. (2021). Interactions between Financial Incentives and Health in the Early Retirement Decision. CESR Working Paper No. 2017-004

Galama, T.J. (2021), A Contribution to Health-Capital Theory. CESR Working Paper #2015-004.
Identifying Gene-by-Environment Interplay in Health Behavior

van Alten, Sjoerd and Domingue, Benjamin W and Faul, Jessica D. and Galama, Titus J. and Marees, Andries T, GWAS 2.0 – Correcting for Volunteer Bias in GWAS Uncovers Novel Genetic Variants and Increases Heritability Estimates (June 12, 2023). CESR-Schaeffer Working Paper No. 2023-001, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4493214 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4493214

van de Kraats, Coen and Galama, Titus J. and Lindeboom, Maarten and Deng, Zichen, Why Life Gets Better after Age 50, for Some: Mental Well-Being and the Social Norm of Work. IZA Discussion Paper No. 17586, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5080575

Pietro Biroli, Titus Galama, Stephanie von Hinke, Hans van Kippersluis, Cornelius A Rietveld, Kevin Thom, The Economics and Econometrics of Gene–Environment Interplay, The Review of Economic Studies, 2025;, rdaf034, https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaf034

van Alten S, Domingue BW, Faul J, Galama T, Marees AT. Reweighting UK Biobank corrects for pervasive selection bias due to volunteering. Int J Epidemiol. 2024 Apr 11;53(3):dyae054. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyae054. PMID: 38715336; PMCID: PMC11076923.

van Kippersluis, H., Biroli, P.., Dias Perreira, R., Galama, T.J., von Hinke. S., Meddens, F., Muslimova, D., Slob, S., de Vlaming, Rietveld, N. (2023), Overcoming Attenuation Bias in Regressions using Polygenic Indices: A Comparison of Approaches. Nature Communications, 14, 4473 (2023). Link to working paper

Bierut, L., Biroli, P., Galama, T.J., and Thom, K. (2023). Challenges in studying the interplay of genes and environment. A study of childhood financial distress moderating genetic predisposition for peak smoking. Journal of Economic Psychology. PMID: 37484514; PMCID: PMC10358858.

Galama, T.J. and van Kippersluis, H. (2022), Economic theories of health across the life course, Elgar Handbook on Health Inequalities Across The Life Course

Marees, A.T., Smit, D.J.A., Abdellaoui, A., Nivard, M.G., van den Brink, W., Denys, D., Galama, T.J., Verweij, K.J.H., Derks, E.M. (2021), Genetic correlates of socio-economic status influence the pattern of shared heritability across mental health traits, Nature Human Behavior, pp.1-9.

Fonseca, R., Michaud, P., Galama, T.J. and Kapteyn, A. (2021). Accounting for the Rise of Health Spending and Longevity. Journal of the European Economic Association,19(1), pp.536-579.

Becker, J. et al (2021), Resource profile and user guide of the Polygenic Index Repository. Nature Human Behaviour, pp.1-15.

Okbay et al. (2022), Polygenic prediction of educational attainment within and between families from genome-wide association analyses in 3 million individuals, Nature Genetics. 54:437-449 (2022)

Dias-Pereira, R., Biroli, P., Galama, T.J., von Hinke, S., van Kippersluis, H., Rietveld, C.A., and Thom, K. (2022), Gene-by-Environment Interplay in the Social Sciences. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance. Working Paper.

Dias Pereira, R., H. van Kippersluis, and C.A. Rietveld (2022) “The interplay between maternal smoking and genes in offspring birth weight“, Journal of Human Resources, Forthcoming.

Barcellos, S., Carvalho, L. and Turley, P. (2019). Distributional Effects of Education on Health (2021), Journal of Human Resources, Forthcoming. NBER Working Paper No. w25898

Working Papers

Galama, T.J. and van Kippersluis, H. (2022), Human-Capital Formation: The Importance of Endogenous Longevity. Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group, Working Paper 2022-009

Van Alten, S., Domingue, B.W., Galama, T.J. and Marees, A.T. (2022a), Reweighting the UK Biobank to reflect its underlying sampling population substantially reduces pervasive selection bias due to volunteering. Working Paper.

Barcellos, S., Carvalho, L. and Turley, P. (2021). The Effect of Education on the Relationship between Genetics, Early-Life Disadvantages, and Later-Life SES (under revision at the Journal of Political Economy). NBER Working Paper No. w28750

Muslimova, D., Meddens, F., Rietveld, N., von Hinke, S., and van Kippersluis, H. (2021), “Complementarities in human capital formation: Evidence from birth order and genes.” Working Paper.

Birol, P. and Zund, C.L. (2021), Genes, Pubs, and Drinks: Gene-environment interplay and alcohol licensing policy in the United Kingdom. Working Paper.

Muslimova, D., Pereira, R., Rietveld, R., Meddens, F., van Kippersluis, H., von Hinke, S. (2021), “Rank concordance of polygenic indices: implications for personalised intervention and gene-environment interplay” Working Paper.

Van Alten, S. and Galama, T. (2021), Genetic and environmental determinants of socioeconomic status: evidence from within-family models in the Dutch Lifelines cohort. In preparation.

Carvalho, L. (2022), Genetics, Economic Choices, and Income. In preparation.

Aranda, R., Galama, T., and Thom, K. (2022), The Long-Run Health Consequences of Title IX. In preparation

Galama, Titus J. and Munteanu, Andrei and Thom, Kevin, Intergenerational Persistence in the Effects of Compulsory Schooling in the U.S. (January 21, 2024). CESR-Schaeffer Working Paper No. 2024_001, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4704151

Van Kippersluis, H., Meddens, F.. Roestenberg, T., and Van Ourti, T. (2022), Estimating Inequality of Opportunity: Evidence from Stochastic Frontiers and Genes, Mimeo.

Baker, S., Biroli, P., van Kippersluis, H., von Hinke, S. (2020), “Beyond Barker: The role of gene-environment interactions.”

Van Alten, S., Galama, T.J. and Thom, K. (2021), The distributional consequences of region-specific exposure to Chinese import competition: evidence from a shift-share analysis (1990-2010). In preparation.

Barth, D., Papageorge, N.W., and Thom, K. (2021), Genetic endowments, income dynamics, and wealth accumulation over the lifecycle. In preparation.

Jeong, Y., Papageorge, N.W., Skira, M.M. and Thom, K. (2021), Genetic endowments, Alzheimer’s disease, and economic outcomes. In preparation.

Warly Solsberg, C., van Alten, S., Geier, E.G., Bonham, L., Derks, E.M., Sirota, M., Galama, T.J., Yokoyama, J.S., Marees, A.T. (2021), Conducting a genome wide association study: a roadmap and tutorial. In preparation.

Angrisani, Faul, J., Galama, T. and Kabeto, M. (2021), Money Management Problems as a Precursor of Cognitive Impairment and Dementia. In preparation

Biroli, P., Galama, T.J., Marees, A., et al. (2021), Sources of Inequality at Birth: the Interplay Between Genes and Parental Socioeconomic Status. In preparation

Van Kippersluis, H., Sopa, G., and Windmeijer, F. (2022), “The polygenic score as a generated regressor: implications for inference.” Mimeo
Genotyping the UAS

van Alten, Sjoerd and Domingue, Benjamin W and Faul, Jessica D. and Galama, Titus J. and Marees, Andries T, GWAS 2.0 – Correcting for Volunteer Bias in GWAS Uncovers Novel Genetic Variants and Increases Heritability Estimates (June 12, 2023). CESR-Schaeffer Working Paper No. 2023-001, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4493214 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4493214

van de Kraats, Coen and Galama, Titus J. and Lindeboom, Maarten and Deng, Zichen, Why Life Gets Better after Age 50, for Some: Mental Well-Being and the Social Norm of Work. IZA Discussion Paper No. 17586, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5080575

Pietro Biroli, Titus Galama, Stephanie von Hinke, Hans van Kippersluis, Cornelius A Rietveld, Kevin Thom, The Economics and Econometrics of Gene–Environment Interplay, The Review of Economic Studies, 2025;, rdaf034, https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaf034

van Alten S, Domingue BW, Faul J, Galama T, Marees AT. Reweighting UK Biobank corrects for pervasive selection bias due to volunteering. Int J Epidemiol. 2024 Apr 11;53(3):dyae054. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyae054. PMID: 38715336; PMCID: PMC11076923.

Working Papers

Galama, Titus J. and Munteanu, Andrei and Thom, Kevin, Intergenerational Persistence in the Effects of Compulsory Schooling in the U.S. (January 21, 2024). CESR-Schaeffer Working Paper No. 2024_001, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4704151

Warly Solsberg, C., van Alten, S., Geier, E.G., Bonham, L., Derks, E.M., Sirota, M., Galama, T.J., Yokoyama, J.S., Marees, A.T. (2021), Conducting a genome wide association study: a roadmap and tutorial. In preparation.

Angrisani, Faul, J., Galama, T. and Kabeto, M. (2021), Money Management Problems as a Precursor of Cognitive Impairment and Dementia. In preparation

Biroli, P., Galama, T.J., Marees, A., et al. (2021), Sources of Inequality at Birth: the Interplay Between Genes and Parental Socioeconomic Status. In preparation
van Alten, Sjoerd and Domingue, Benjamin W and Faul, Jessica D. and Galama, Titus J. and Marees, Andries T, GWAS 2.0 – Correcting for Volunteer Bias in GWAS Uncovers Novel Genetic Variants and Increases Heritability Estimates (June 12, 2023). CESR-Schaeffer Working Paper No. 2023-001, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4493214 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4493214

van de Kraats, Coen and Galama, Titus J. and Lindeboom, Maarten and Deng, Zichen, Why Life Gets Better after Age 50, for Some: Mental Well-Being and the Social Norm of Work. IZA Discussion Paper No. 17586, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5080575

Working Papers

PhD Thesis: Genetics, Human Capital Formation and the Intergenerational Transmission of Socioeconomic Status (2024), Sjoerd van Alten (supervisor T.J. Galama), VU Amsterdam.
Pietro Biroli, Titus Galama, Stephanie von Hinke, Hans van Kippersluis, Cornelius A Rietveld, Kevin Thom, The Economics and Econometrics of Gene–Environment Interplay, The Review of Economic Studies, 2025;, rdaf034, https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaf034

van Alten, Sjoerd and Domingue, Benjamin W and Faul, Jessica D. and Galama, Titus J. and Marees, Andries T, GWAS 2.0 – Correcting for Volunteer Bias in GWAS Uncovers Novel Genetic Variants and Increases Heritability Estimates (June 12, 2023). CESR-Schaeffer Working Paper No. 2023-001, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4493214 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4493214

van de Kraats, Coen and Galama, Titus J. and Lindeboom, Maarten and Deng, Zichen, Why Life Gets Better after Age 50, for Some: Mental Well-Being and the Social Norm of Work. IZA Discussion Paper No. 17586, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5080575

Van Alten S, Domingue BW, Faul J, Galama T, Marees AT. Reweighting UK Biobank corrects for pervasive selection bias due to volunteering. Int J Epidemiol. 2024 Apr 11;53(3):dyae054. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyae054. PMID: 38715336; PMCID: PMC11076923.

Van Kippersluis, H., Biroli, P.., Dias Perreira, R., Galama, T.J., von Hinke. S., Meddens, F., Muslimova, D., Slob, S., de Vlaming, Rietveld, N. (2023), Overcoming Attenuation Bias in Regressions using Polygenic Indices: A Comparison of Approaches. Nature Communications, 14, 4473 (2023). Link to working paper

Bierut, L., Biroli, P., Galama, T.J., and Thom, K. (2023). Challenges in studying the interplay of genes and environment. A study of childhood financial distress moderating genetic predisposition for peak smoking. Journal of Economic Psychology. PMID: 37484514; PMCID: PMC10358858.

Working Papers

Social-Science Genetics Seminars

Welcome to the Social-Science Genetics Seminars (SSGS) at USC’s Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) and the department of Economics at Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam. The SSGS provides an informal setting to discuss relevant papers in social-science genetics (typically presented by an author or sometimes reviewed by a club member). We are entirely based online, using Zoom as our platform, and our members are located across the U.S. and Europe. Our meetings are typically once a month on Thursday at 9 am Pacific Time in the first or second week of the month. The series is jointly organized by Brian Finch, Titus Galama, Patrick Turley and Tarra Kohli (all at CESR) and hosted by the CESR Center for the Study of Human Capital (CSHC) and the CESR Behavioral and Health Genomics Center (BHG). If you are interested in joining our mailing list or would like to view any of the past seminars, please email the Center with your information.

Date Speaker Title of Talk

Apr 2, 2026

Lauren Schmitz
Epigenetic Biomarkers as Tools for Biosocial Aging Research

May 7, 2026

Silvia Barcellos

June 4, 2026

Leandro Carvalho

Date	Speaker	Title of Talk
Apr 2, 2026	Lauren Schmitz	Epigenetic Biomarkers as Tools for Biosocial Aging Research
May 7, 2026	Silvia Barcellos
June 4, 2026	Leandro Carvalho

Past Seminars

Date	Speaker	Title of Talk
Mar 5, 2026	Lucas Matthews	Imputing parental genotypes through Mendelian Imputation: Ethical and Legal Considerations
Feb 5, 2026	Karin Verweij	The genetic etiology of cannabis use: from twin models to genome-wide association studies and beyond
Jan 15, 2026	Sjoerd van Alten	Parent’s genetic propensity for externalizing behavior and children’s human capital
Dec 4, 2025	Peter Visscher	Estimation of between-population genetic effects on complex traits from segregating admixture proportions within families
Nov 6, 2025	Lucas Casten	The Selective Landscape of Human Uniqueness: Genetic Insights from Studies on Language and Migration
Oct 2, 2025	Weilong Zhang	Genetic Endowments and Lifetime Earnings: Understanding the Mechanisms
Sept 4, 2025	Kyle Bourassa	Trauma, PTSD, and biological aging: Promoting health across the lifespan
May 1, 2025	Dalton Conley	Detecting Antenatal Genetic Selection: A sibling-Based Approach for Assessing the Ecological and Genetic Drivers of Who Survives to Birth
April 3, 2025	Elsje van Bergen	The Interplay of Genetics and Environment in Shaping Learning Abilities
March 6, 2025	Daniel Adkins	Genome, Social Structure, and Social Status: A General Model and Empirical Strategy
February 6, 2025	Anastacia Terskaya	Peers’ Genetic Predisposition to Alcohol Consumption and Intimate Partner Violence
December 5, 2024	Qiongshi Lu	Genetic basis of partner choice
December 3, 2024	Michel Boivin	The contributions of two Quebec birth cohorts to the biosocial understanding of developmental trajectories: the past, the present, and the future.
November 7, 2024	Laurel Raffington	Epigenetic measures of biological aging across the life span and new quantifications of child development
Occtober 3, 2024	Nicolau Martin Bassols	Examining the Health Legacy of the NHS: Short- and Long-Term Effects on Infant Mortality and Adult Health Outcomes
September 5, 2024	Daniel S. Hamermesh	The Economic Impact of Heritable Physical Traits: Hot Parents, Rich Kid? (with Anwen Zhang)
May 16, 2024	Mikkel Aagaard Houmark	Gender Differences in the Genetics of Skill Formation Suggested Literature: The Nurture of Nature and the Nature of Nurture: How Genes and Investments Interact in the Formation of Skills
January 11, 2024	Rafael Ahlskog	Using fine-grained population-based geolocation data to disentangle causal and non-causal gene-environment correlation across the lifespan
December 7, 2023	Hans Fredrik Sunde	Genetic similarity between relatives provides evidence on the presence and history of assortative mating Suggested Literature: Genetic similarity between relatives provides evidence on the presence and history of assortative mating
November 9, 2023	Sam Trejo	The Phenotype Differences Model Reveals Genetic Effects on Mortality Using Incomplete Sibling Data Suggested Literature: The Phenotype Differences Model Reveals Genetic Effects on Mortality Using Incomplete Sibling Data
October 26, 2023	Nathaniel Comfort
October 12, 2023	Leandro Carvalho	A Chip Off the Old Block? Genetics and The Intergenerational Transmission of Socioeconomic Status
June 1, 2023	Michel Nivard	Neither nature nor nurture: Using extended pedigree data to elucidate the origins of indirect genetic effects on offspring educational outcomes
May 4, 2023	Randi Vogt	Scatter versus decile bar plots: What do different ways of visualizing the same polygenic index-phenotype relationship convey to lay audiences? Suggested Literature: Harden & Belsky, https://bold.expert/predicting-education-from-dna/, 2018; Harden, Nat Rev Gen, 2022
April 6, 2023	Melinda Mills	Applications of multidimensional and longitudinal phenotype measurement in labour market sociogenomics
March 9, 2023	Jonathan Beauchamp	Kin-Based Institutions and Economic Development Suggested Literature: Kin-Based Institutions and Economic Development
February 9, 2023	Xingyan “David” Wang	Genetic diversity fuels gene discovery for tobacco and alcohol use Suggested Literature: Genetic diversity fuels gene discovery for tobacco and alcohol use
November 4, 2022	Neil M. Davies	Within-sibship genome-wide association analyses decrease bias in estimates of direct genetic effects Suggested Literature: Within-sibship genome-wide association analyses decrease bias in estimates of direct genetic effects
October 6, 2022	Chandra Reynolds	Access to parks and trails and health at the cusp of midlife: individual factors and environmental selection
September 15, 2022	David Hugh-Jones	Trading social status for genetics in marriage markets: evidence from UK Biobank Suggested Literature: Trading social status for genetics in marriage markets: evidence from UK Biobank
June 2, 2022	Sam Trejo	What Makes Us Unequal? Understanding Disagreement Regarding Genes and Social Inequality
May 12, 2022	Malin Ericsson	Genetic propensities and attained education: Influences on age-related health and mortality
April 21, 2022	Daniel J. Benjamin	Polygenic prediction of educational attainment within and between families from genome-wide association analyses in 3 million individuals Suggested Literature: Polygenic prediction of educational attainment within and between families from genome-wide association analyses in 3 million individuals
April 14, 2022	Paul Hufe	Genetic Endowments, Educational Outcomes and the Mediating Influence of School Investments
March 4, 2022	Perline Demange	Estimating effects of parents’ cognitive and non-cognitive skills on offspring education using polygenic scores
February 11, 2022	Sjoerd Van Alten	The effects of demographic-based selection bias on GWAS results in the UK Biobank
January 14, 2022	Gabriella Conti	Genes, Parental Education, and Inequalities in Human Capital: Evidence two British Cohorts
November 12, 2021	Leandro Carvalho	Genotypes, Education, and Income
October 8, 2021	Silvia Barcellos	The Effect of Education on the Relationship between Genetics, Early-Life Disadvantages, and Later-Life SES
September 12, 2021	Marco Francesconi	Gene-Environment Effects on Female Fertility
June 6, 2021	Victor Ronda	The Nurture of Nature and the Nature of Nurture: How Genes and Investments Interact in the Formation of Skills Suggested Literature: The Nurture of Nature and the Nature of Nurture: How Genes and Investments Interact in the Formation of Skills
June 11, 2021	Fleur Meddens	Genetic contributions to inequality of opportunity
May 14, 2021	Hans van Kippersluis	Dynamic Complementarity in Skill Production: Evidence From Genetic Endowments and Birth Order
May 7, 2021	Rosa Cheesman	Gene-environment interactions and childhood educational achievement: do within-family polygenic score effects vary across schools and neighbourhoods?
April 16, 2021	Pietro Biroli	Sources of inequality at birth: the interplay between genes and parental socioeconomic status
March 12, 2021	Patrick Turley	Discussion on: “The imprint of assortative mating in the human genome reflects human behavior and social preferences”
February 12, 2021	Alexander Young	Disentangling genes and environment using genomic family data
January 8, 2021	Sjoerd Van Alten	Parent-child dyads and imputation
December 4, 2020	Neil Davies	Mendellian randomization
November 14, 2o20	Jessica Faul	Collecting, extracting, and storing genetic material
August 7, 2020	Jennifer Smith	Population stratification and principal components analysis
July 10, 2020	Jason Boardman	Gene-by-environment interplay (GxE)
June 12, 2020	Aysu Okbay	Polygenic scores, what they are, how to construct them, etc. Suggested Literature: An Introduction to Statistical Genetic Data Analysis
May 8, 2020	Andries Marees	Andries Marees will be leading the discussion of Chapters 1 and 3 of Mills et al. 2020 Suggested Literature: An Introduction to Statistical Genetic Data Analysis
April 3, 2020	Sam Trejo	Genetic Nature or Genetic Nurture? Quantifying Bias in Analyses Using Polygenic Scores Suggested Literature: Genetic Nature or Genetic Nurture? Quantifying Bias in Analyses Using Polygenic Scores
March 13, 2020	Sjoerd van Alten	Discussion of chapter 4 of “An introduction to Statistical Genetic Data Analysis” by Mills, Barban and Tropf, to understand the basics of Genome-wide Association Studies (GWAS) Suggested Literature: An Introduction to Statistical Genetic Data Analysis
February 14, 2020	Abdel Abdellaoui	Genetic correlates of social stratification in Great Britain

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USC Conference “Polygenic Prediction and its Application in Social Science”, April 2017

Link to USC, polygenic conference program and recorded talks

Link to USC, polygenic conference slides

Link to USC, polygenic conference blog post

USC Polygenic Prediction and its Application in Social Science Conference, December 2018

Link to USC polygenic conference program and recorded talks

Titus Galama interview with Human here (in Dutch)

Kevin Thom’s research presented in The Washington Post here