The challenges of recent years bring mental health issues to the forefront of all science fields, including economics. In the most recent episode of Talking Economics, Katarína Stehlíková discusses long-term mental health trends and the effect of the pandemic with Liyou Borga.
Why do economists study mental health? “Mental health is very important for economists because it correlates with many economic factors. Research has shown that poor mental health is associated with a decrease of productivity and an increase in unemployment; and on a macro level, the cost of mental health is quite large.” With respect to the challenges of recent years, we can already see the effect on mental health? “The immediate effect of the pandemic on mental health includes an increase in depression and stress levels, social isolation, loneliness, and economic insecurity. The pandemic has also exacerbated the already existing age and gender imbalances in mental health. We need to increase investment in mental health,” says Liyou.
Liyou Borga is a CERGE-EI Ph. D. in Economics graduate and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Luxembourg Institute of Health. His main research experience lies in applied econometrics; mainly health, labor, and development economics. Currently, he is working on the evaluation of innovative digital healthcare services.
