The impact of economic shocks on mental health and wellbeing around the world

My research falls under the scope of health economics, which is reflected by the joint supervision of my PhD between the Economics Department and Health Economics Unit. I am focusing particularly on mental health and wellbeing. I am interested in this area for several reasons. Firstly, mental health is an aspect of health that, relative to physical health, has been neglected in the past. It has, however, become increasingly apparent that mental health is just as important to our wellbeing as physical health. Furthermore, the majority of mental health problems begin in young adult life - i.e. my fellow cohort of the population. I personally know several people who have been affected by mental health problems, and this too serves as motivation for my research.

Specifically, my research will investigate the impact of economic shocks on mental health and wellbeing across the world. In order to do this, I will analyse six longitudinal datasets, covering various economic shocks including the mass privatisations of China between 1995-97 and Russia in the nineties, as well as the global financial crisis of 2008. My analysis will use econometric techniques that allow for causal inferences to made between these economic shocks and their negative impact mental health and wellbeing. I will also seek to establish whether there are certain groups within societies who are particularly susceptible to the negative effects identified. Furthermore, I will identify factors that could protect the population against the most harmful effects of these shocks, which in turn will allow me to explore whether there are social policies that can be implemented to mitigate such effects. Ultimately, by using evidence from a breadth of countries that vary in both their social and economic development, the results of this project will provide valuable insights for policymakers around the world.