Joan Costa i Font's web page

Senior Lecturer in European Social Policy

London School of Economics and Political Science
Houghton Street WC2A 2AE
Tel: +44 (0) 2079556484
Email: j.costa-font@lse.ac.uk

Curriculum Vitae LSEresearchonline

European Institute - Department of Social Policy - LSE Health

I am an economist interested in the interplay between economics of social policy (health, health care & ageing), political economy (devolution, Europe) and economic sociology (cultural transmission, identity).

Academic Interests:

My current teaching and research attempts to understand the federalisation of Europe, the reform of its welfare states and the influence of wider social incentives in explaining preferences for health, insurance and redistribution.

Positions:

Main:

Senior Lecturer in European Social Policy, a joint appointment with the Department of Social Policy & the European Institute, LSE

Other:

Senior Research Fellow in Health Economics LSE Health

Director of the Catalan Observatory

Teaching:

EU429 The Political Economy of Southwest and Mediterranean Europe

EU439 Political and Fiscal Integration and Disintegration in EU Member States

EU456 The Economics of European Social Policy

Research Interests:

    Economics of Social Policy (Health, Ageing)

    Political Economy

    Sociology & Economics

Ongoing Research Projects:

"Fiscal Federalism, Devolution and Health System in Europe" (draft next fall)

"Regulated Pharmaceuticals Arbitrage in Europe" (draft next summer)

"Family Culture and Long Term Care Insurance" (draft next lent)

"Social Identity, Welfare State Attitudes and Inequality" (with Frank Cowell) (draft next summer)

"Vertical Transmission of Lifestyles" (with Le Grand, J and Jofre-Bonet, M) (draft next lent)

News:

CESifo Venice Summer Institute on Behavioural Welfare Economics See here

LSE Summer School on "Health Policy, Management and Economics" See here

Economics of the Mediterranean and the Euromediterranian Process See here

Selected Research 2008-:

A. Economics of Social Policy (Health, Ageing)

Re-visiting the health care luxury good hypothesis: aggregation, precision, and publication biases? HEDG working paper, 09/02. Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG), 2009

Housing Assets and Housing Wealth Decisions in Old Age: Sale and Reversion
(with Oscar Mascarilla and Joan Gil). Housing Studies, 2010.

Competition in off-patent drug markets: Issues, regulation and evidence

(with Panos Kanavos & Liz Sheeley). Economic Policy, 2008, 23(55): 497-538.

What lies behind the socio-economic inequalities in obesity in Spain: a decomposition approach. (with Gil, J) Food Policy,2008, 33 (1). pp. 61-73.

B. Political Economy (Devolution, Health and Welfare Reform, Europe)

Unveiling the Mechanisms of Vertical State Rescaling: Identity and/or the Economy, LSE Europe in Question Series, 2010.

Tackling Neglect and Mental Health care Reform in a Devolved System of Welfare Governance Journal of Social Policy, 40(2), 2011.

Does Devolution lead to Regional Inequalities in Welfare Activity? Environment and Planning C:

Government and Policy ,3, 2010.

Devolution,Diversity and Welfare Reform:Long-Term Care in the Latin Rim. Social Policy and Administration,

4, 2010.

Exploring the pathways of inequality in health access and financing in decentralised Spain (with Joan Gil). Journal of European Social Policy, 2009, 19 (5), 446-458

The Impact of Decentralization and Inter-territorial Interactions on Spanish Health Expenditure Empirical Economics, 2008, 34 (1): 167-184.

C. Economics & Sociology (Identity, Culture, Health)

Body Image, Peer Effects and Food Disorders: Evidence from a Sample of European women (with Jofre, M)

Decomposing cross-country differences in levels of obesity and overweight: does the social environment matter? (with Gil, J and Fabbri, D) Social Science and Medicine, 2010, 70 (8) : 1185-1193.

Decomposing Body Mass Index Gaps Between Mediterranean Countries: A Counterfactual Quantile Regression Analysis (with Daniele Fabbri and Joan Gil). Economics and Human Biology, 2009, 7(3): 351-365

Generational effects and gender height dimorphism in contemporary Spain. (with Joan Gil). Economics

and Human Biology, 2008, 6(1):1-18

Compulsory Language Educational Policies and Identity Formation (with Irma Clots Figueres, Aspachs, O., and Masella, P). Journal of the European Economic Association, 2008, 6(2-3): 434-444.