The Economic Cost of Depression: A Mendelian Randomisation Study

Add to your list(s) Download to your calendar using vCal

• Fergus McCormack, PhD Candidate, Department of Economics
• Tuesday 11 February 2025, 13:10-14:00
• Richard King room, Darwin College.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Dr Amelia Hassoun.

Are people depressed because they’re poor, or are they poor because they’re depressed? Observational studies often struggle to untangle this relationship. In our study, we exploit a natural experiment—the random assignment of genes at birth—to estimate how depression influences economic outcomes. We find that depression significantly reduces income, largely through its effects on educational and occupational attainment, as well as employment. Additionally, our analysis of longitudinal data reveals that short-term declines in mental health also lower income, though to a considerably lesser extent. These findings suggest that early-life interventions aimed at improving mental health could yield substantial economic benefits by influencing educational and occupational trajectories.

This talk is part of the Darwin College Humanities and Social Sciences Seminars series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• AUB_Cambridge Seminars
• All Talks (aka the CURE list)
• Centre for Health Leadership and Enterprise
• Chris Davis' list
• Darwin College Humanities and Social Sciences Seminars
• Darwin College Research Talks
• Darwin Lectures and Seminars
• ESRC DTP
• Neurons, Fake News, DNA and your iPhone: The Mathematics of Information
• Richard King room, Darwin College
• custom

Note that ex-directory lists are not shown.