Helen Lam

PhD candidate Health Economics & Applied Microeconomics

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I am a Ph.D. candidate at Erasmus University Rotterdam, within the Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management, Department of Health Economics, and part of the Health Equity action line of the Erasmus Initiative “Smarter Choices for Better Health.” My research focuses on health economics and applied microeconomics, particularly on human capital, child health and development, and equality of opportunity.

I study how early-life conditions shape inequality in health and socioeconomic outcomes. Leveraging large-scale administrative data from the Netherlands, I examine intergenerational mobility across the life course, from birth to adulthood, and across domains including health, education, labor markets, and housing. Additionally, I apply causal inference methods to identify the effects of adverse birth outcomes on childhood health and development.

Contact: lam@eshpm.eur.nl

 

Research Projects

Currently, I am working on three research projects:

1) How, When, and Where Does the Opportunity Gap Open Up in the Netherlands?

We analyze administrative data on 4.6 million children and their parents to study intergenerational mobility in the Netherlands. The opportunity gap emerges early, with strong links between parental income, wealth, and education and a child’s health, education, and economic outcomes. These disparities persist into adulthood, making the Netherlands one of the least mobile developed countries after the U.S. and the UK. We also find regional variation in mobility, with better outcomes in rural areas and lower mobility in left-leaning and highly segregated regions. We publish our results on www.opportunitymap.nl and www.opportunitygap.nl.

2) Improved Targeting to Prevent Adverse Birth Outcomes using Big Data in the Netherlands

This study examines the link between adverse birth outcomes and sociodemographic factors using data from 1.56 million births in the Netherlands (2011–2020). We find significant income-related disparities, with low-income births more likely to be small for gestational age, preterm, or have higher infant mortality. Geographic variation in outcomes is also notable, with worse outcomes for low-income parents in former mining regions. Regions with poorer birth outcomes have higher shares of Catholic and Muslim residents, immigrants, and populist political support.

3) Born Too Small: The Effect of Low Birth Weight on Health and Development in Childhood

This paper studies the causal impact of birth weight on health and development using linked Dutch administrative and preventive health data with sibling and twin fixed-effects models. We find that low birth weight has persistent negative effects on physical health, language development, academic performance, and early-life hospital costs. The results underscore the long-term consequences of early-life disadvantage and the importance of targeted interventions.