Florencia Borrescio Higa

• PhD in Economics, Brown University
• Professor (Associate) at Adolfo Ibáñez University

This paper analyzes the effect of the Great Recession on short-term community college enrollment among recent high school graduates. I find that community college enrollment rates increased by about six percentage points during 2008, after controlling for individual and family background characteristics. Consistent with the hypothesis that this inc...

This paper analyzes how prices in the retail pharmaceutical market affect health care utilization. Specifically, I study the impact of Walmart’s $4 Prescription Drug Program on utilization of antihypertensive drugs and on hospitalizations for conditions amenable to drug therapy. Identification relies on the change in the availability of cheap drugs...

In this paper, we analyze the relationship between adult height and early-life disease environment, proxied by the infant mortality rate (IMR) in the first year of life, using cohort-region level data for Chile for 1960-1989. IMRs show a remarkable reduction of 100 points per thousand over this thirty-year period, declining from 119.4 to 21.0 per t...

Objective To measure the likelihood of delivery by caesarean section (C-section) for publicly insured births as compared with privately insured births, across all hospitals and within private hospitals. Design Repeated cross-sectional analysis. Setting The universe of hospital births in 15 regions of Chile. Participants 2 405 082 singleton birth...

Purpose Access to bank loans is often limited for small businesses in emerging economies, particularly during crises when capital becomes scarce. In such situations, financially underserved entrepreneurs may resort to unregulated financing options, often involving high-interest, illegal loans. This study aims to examine the relationship between inf...

Background In this priority-setting exercise, we sought to identify leading research priorities needed for strengthening future pandemic preparedness and response across countries. Methods The International Society of Global Health (ISoGH) used the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) method to identify research priorities for fu...

Objective: We examine the impact of financial distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and psychological well-being. Methods: We analyze cross-sectional survey data ( n = 2,545) from the Life during Pandemic study in Chile. We estimate linear probability models to analyze the relationship between economic fragility, financial distr...

This article analyzes to what extent the technophysio evolution (i.e. the positive synergism between accelerated technological changes and improvements in human physiology) occurred in Chile, as well as its timing. Compared to developed countries, Chile experienced a delayed and incomplete technophysio evolution. General and infant mortality fell s...

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions to the functioning of societies and their health systems. Prior to the pandemic, health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) were particularly stretched and vulnerable. The International Society of Global Health (ISoGH) sought to systematically identify priorities for health res...

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions to the functioning of societies and their health systems. Prior to the pandemic, health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) were particularly stretched and vulnerable. The International Society of Global Health (ISoGH) sought to systematically identify priorities for health res...

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions to the functioning of societies and their health systems. Prior to the pandemic, health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) were particularly stretched and vulnerable. The International Society of Global Health (ISoGH) sought to systematically identify priorities for h...

Cancer is the second leading cause of death for children, and leukemias are the most common pediatric cancer diagnoses in Chile. Childhood cancer is a traumatic experience and is associated with distress, pain, and other negative experiences for patients and their families. Thus, psychosocial costs represent a large part of the overall burden of ca...

Objective: We explore gender differences in mental health deterioration and psychological well-being due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the mechanisms through which these differences may operate. Methods: Using data from the Life during Pandemic survey in Chile, which covers 2,545 adult respondents, we estimate econometric models to explore g...

Objective: To examine whether the effect of population aging on healthcare expenditures as a share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is attenuated in more educated countries. Method: The analysis is based on a dataset of 22 Latin American countries between 1995 and 2013. We estimate panel data models with country and time fixed effects, and control f...

Medical care for children with cancer is complex and expensive, and represents a large financial burden for families around the world. We estimated the medical cost of cancer care for children under the age of 18, using administrative records of the universe of children with private insurance in Chile in the period 2007-2018, based on a sample of 3...

Objective: To examine whether the effect of population aging on health-care expenditures as a share of GDP is attenuated in more educated countries. Method: The analysis is based on a dataset of 22 Latin American countries between 1995 and 2013. We estimate panel data models with country and time fixed-effects, and control for potential nonlinear e...

Objective: To measure poverty-based disparities in inpatient length of stay for pediatric hospitalizations. In particular, this paper examines the relationship between municipality level poverty rates and length of stay, accounting for individual level characteristics. Design, Setting and Participants: We use patient discharge data to conduct a r...