This thesis consists of four essays that contribute to the field of applied microeconomics, addressing topics at the intersection of labor and demographic economics, health and urban economics. Using large and novel administrative datasets from Brazil and the United Kingdom, these works aim at highlighting the role of social and economic contexts within family, urban, and work environments in shaping outcomes and decisions of the individual as well as trajectories of entire communities and markets.

The first chapter investigates the effects of maternal job dismissals during pregnancy on infant health and early-life outcomes. Using linked administrative data on formal employment, birth records, hospitalizations, and deaths, it documents significant adverse effects on birthweight, low-birthweight incidence, and child hospitalization within the first year of life. A regression discontinuity design exploits eligibility thresholds for unemployment insurance, showing that access to unemployment benefits mitigates these effects, particularly for low-income mothers. These findings highlight the vulnerability of children to economic shocks during fetal development.\par

The second chapter explores the role of social interactions in criminal behavior, leveraging quasi-random allocation from a Brazilian social housing lottery. The analysis finds that exposure to criminal neighbors increases both recidivism and first-time offending. Spillover effects seem to propagate through demographic proximity, i.e., through peers, and residential proximity, among residents of the same building. The results underscore the importance of neighborhood composition in affecting criminal behavior and provide evidence on the mechanisms driving these spillovers.

The third chapter examines the externalities of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) on local housing markets in London. Using property transaction data and BID-level information, it shows that BID openings lead to a significant increase in house prices, driven by neighborhood improvements, such as crime reduction. The analysis rules out housing supply responses and highlights long-term demographic shifts, including slower growth in renters and minority populations in areas affected by BIDs. The findings provide evidence on the market capitalization of local public goods provision and possible longer-term changes in neighborhoods.

The final chapter analyzes the role of employer quality in the geographic mobility of NHS hospital doctors in England. Using conditional logit models, it presents estimates of doctors’ preferences for hospital attributes such as quality indicators, local amenities, hospital teaching status, and rurality. The results reveal that employer quality significantly influences mobility decisions, with implications for addressing regional disparities in healthcare personnel. This chapter contributes to understanding the determinants of skilled worker mobility in the public service sectors.