It never rains but it pours: Austerity and mortality rate in peripheral areas
研究了2003-2018年意大利地区紧缩政策对死亡率的影响，发现该政策在边缘地区和脆弱人群中显著提高了死亡率，且距离医院越远影响越大。
This study examines the impact of austerity measures on mortality rates across Italian regions from 2003 to 2018. Since 2007, regions experiencing substantial healthcare financial deficits have been required to implement recovery plans (RPs). We use a recent difference-in-differences staggered matching estimator to assess the effects of this austerity policy on municipal-level monthly mortality rates. This allows us to evaluate the policy's spatial heterogeneity across treated municipalities, accounting for their distance from the nearest hospital. The analysis reveals a significant negative impact of austerity measures on health, particularly in peripheral areas and among vulnerable populations. Mortality rates are higher in regions under RPs, with this effect escalating with increasing distance from hospitals. The policy's impact is also more pronounced among vulnerable populations, with differences observed between genders and across seasons.