Katrin Zocher

Katrin Zocher is a Research Fellow at the Department of Health Economics within the Kurt Rothschild School of Economics and Statistics (RoSES) at Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria. Her research focuses on health economics and applied microeconomics, with particular interest in health care provision, labor market interactions, and refugee health care utilization.

Her educational background includes:

• Master in Applied Economics, Leopold Franzens University Innsbruck (2012-2015), Thesis: "Spatial Green Solow Model"
• Bachelor in Management and Economics, Leopold Franzens University Innsbruck (2008-2012), Thesis: "Willingness to Pay for Electricity from Renewable Energy Resources"

Dr. Zocher's primary research areas include Health Economics and Applied Microeconomics, with a focus on the intersection of health care systems and labor markets. Her current projects examine gender dynamics in physician-patient interactions, the effectiveness of opportunistic screening for diabetic complications, and regional disparities in child health outcomes. Through collaborations with the Christian Doppler Laboratory 'Aging, Health and the Labor Market', she explores how health shocks affect long-term labor market trajectories, particularly among vulnerable populations such as refugees.

Her recent publications (2019-2025) demonstrate a consistent focus on health care delivery systems, with increasing attention to gender disparities and preventive care. Key themes include physician gender effects on patient care, efficiency of screening programs, and refugee health access. Methodologically, she combines quasi-experimental designs with administrative data to address policy-relevant questions in European health systems.

Dr. Zocher is involved in several research projects, including:

• ISAAC (2025-2027): Investigating stroke risk profiles in Austria and their sensitivity to climate change.
• Versorgungsforschung (2021-2027): Health services research project funded by public sources.

She is a core researcher at the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Aging, Health and the Labor Market, collaborating with a multidisciplinary team of economists, epidemiologists, and clinicians to produce high-impact research on health and labor market dynamics.