0000000000290701
AUTHOR
Alex Bryson
showing 8 related works from this author
Do childhood infections affect labour market outcomes in adulthood and, if so, how?
2020
A burgeoning body of literature suggests that poor childhood health leads to adverse health outcomes. lower educational attainment and weaker labour market outcomes in adulthood. We focus on an important but under-researched topic, which is the role played by infection-related hospitalization (IRH) in childhood and its links to labour market outcomes later in life. The participants aged 24-30 years in 2001 N =1706 were drawn from the Young Finns Study, which includes comprehensive registry data on IRHs in childhood at ages 0-18 years. These data are linked to longitudinal registry information on labour market outcomes (2001-2012) and parental background (1980). The estimations were performe…
The biometric antecedents to happiness
2017
It has been suggested that biological markers are associated with human happiness. We contribute to the empirical literature by examining the independent association between various aspects of biometric wellbeing measured in childhood and happiness in adulthood. Using Young Finns Study data (n = 1905) and nationally representative linked data we examine whether eight biomarkers measured in childhood (1980) are associated with happiness in adulthood (2001). Using linked data we account for a very rich set of confounders including age, sex, body size, family background, nutritional intake, physical activity, income, education and labour market experiences. We find that there is a negative rel…
Biomarkers and Long-Term Labour Market Outcomes: The Case of Creatine
2014
I evaluate the impact of the UK Working Time Regulations 1998, which introduced mandatory paid holiday entitlement. The regulation gave (nearly) all workers the right to a minimum of 4 weeks of paid holiday per a year. With constant weekly pay this change amounts effectively to an increase in the real hourly wage of about 8.5% for someone going from 0 to 4 weeks paid holiday per year, which should lead to adjustments in employment. For employees I use complementary log-log regression to account for right-censoring of employment spells. I find no increase in the hazard to exit employment within a year after treatment. Adjustments in wages cannot explain this result as they are increasing for…
Does education protect against depression? Evidence from the Young Finns Study using Mendelian randomization
2018
Using participants (N = 1733) drawn from the nationally representative longitudinal Young Finns Study (YFS) we estimate the effect of education on depressive symptoms. In 2007, when the participants were between 30 and 45 years old, they reported their depressive symptoms using a revised version of Beck's Depression Inventory. Education was measured using register information on the highest completed level of education in 2007, which was converted to years of education. To identify a causal relationship between education and depressive symptoms we use an instrumental variables approach (Mendelian randomization, MR) with a genetic risk score as an instrument for years of education. The genet…
Creatine and entrepreneurship
2016
Creatine is a nitrogenous organic acid which supplies energy to body cells and enhances physical performance. Using the Young Finns Study combined with the Finnish Linked employer-employee data we show that quantities of creatine measured in 1980 prior to labour market entry affect entrepreneurial success as measured by capital income accumulation over the period 1993–2010 (in particular for females). However, we do not find evidence that creatine affects the propensity to become an entrepreneur. Our study contributes to the emerging literature on biomarkers and entrepreneurship. peerReviewed
Does job design make workers happy?
2019
Using linked employer‐employee data for Finland we examine associations between job design, employee well‐being and job‐related stress. Three key findings stand out. First, in accordance with the theory of Karasek and Karasek and Theorell, job control and supervisory support are positively correlated with employee well‐being and negatively correlated with job‐related stress. Second, as predicted by theory, job demands are positively correlated with job‐related stress. Third, there is no association between job demands and employee well‐being and, contrary to expectations, neither job control nor supervisory support alleviate the negative relationship between job demands and job‐related stre…
Does better education mitigate risky health behavior? A mendelian randomization study.
2022
Education and risky health behaviors are strongly negatively correlated. Education may affect health behaviors by enabling healthier choices through higher disposable income, increasing information about the harmful effects of risky health behaviors, or altering time preferences. Alternatively, the observed negative correlation may stem from reverse causality or unobserved confounders. Based on the data from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study linked to register-based information on educational attainment and family background, this paper identifies the causal effect of education on risky health behaviors. To examine causal effects, we used a genetic score as an instrument for year…
The serum copper/zinc ratio in childhood and educational attainment : a population-based study
2016
Background Micronutrients are potentially important determinants of adult outcomes such as educational attainment. Copper and zinc have known effects on several medical conditions and cognitive development. Elevated copper and depressed zinc is a common trace metal imbalance. Methods We estimate the correlation between the copper/zinc ratio (Cu/Zn) in childhood (year 1980) and educational attainment in adulthood (year 2010). We use the Young Finns Study (YFS) combined with the Finnish Linked Employer-Employee Data (FLEED). The regression models account for confounders such as other biomarkers and parental observables. Results We report a sizeable, negative correlation between Cu/Zn and educ…