Hannes Schwandt

Economist Hannes Schwandt’s research agenda lies at the intersection of health economics, labor economics, and economic demography and focuses on the role of health in determining economic inequality. As an economic input to education, productivity, and wellbeing, health is an important determinant of inequality. At the same time, health is an output of an individual’s economic situation, the environment, and macroeconomic conditions—factors that can be addressed by public policy. In one line of research, Schwandt looks at macroeconomic shocks, such as stock market fluctuations, unemployment, and trade shocks, and explores their impact on health, human capital, and fertility. In a second branch of research, he focuses on the first years of life, including in utero. In particular, he investigates how environmental and institutional factors impair the health trajectories of children, and how they can be addressed by policies.

Schwandt’s research has been published in Science, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Journal of Human Resources, and the Harvard Business Review. His work has been featured in media outlets including the New York Times, Economist, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, NPR, and the Washington Post. His research has been supported by the Value of Vaccination Network and the Danish Research Council. Schwandt is a research fellow at at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), and an affiliate of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).