IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/chieco/v44y2017icp282-295.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trends in elderly health by cohort: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Yu, Yangyang
  • Sloan, Frank A.

Abstract

China has the world's largest number of older persons and is undergoing rapid demographic and economic transitions. Using longitudinal data from seven waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) spanning 1991–2009, this study examines trends by birth cohort for persons born during 1912–54 on several dimensions of elderly health—chronic diseases, physical function limitations, and excess weight. A fixed effects specification was used to distinguish trends in health, physical function, and weight common to all adult age groups and differential trends in these measures according to the person's birth year. The empirical results show that while there was a decline in physical function limitations over time, persons born in later years were more likely to experience a stroke and physical function limitations at older ages than were persons born earlier. A similar pattern occurred for stroke, but not for the other heath indicators. These findings are robust after accounting for sample attrition. The secular changes in health and function could have occurred for several reasons. Among the underlying mechanisms the data allow us to analyze, improved access to medical care and expanded health insurance coverage only had minor effects on observed changes in health and physical function.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu, Yangyang & Sloan, Frank A., 2017. "Trends in elderly health by cohort: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 282-295.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:44:y:2017:i:c:p:282-295
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2017.05.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043951X17300652
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.chieco.2017.05.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Strauss & Duncan Thomas, 1998. "Health, Nutrition, and Economic Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(2), pages 766-817, June.
    2. Lingguo Cheng & Hong Liu & Ye Zhang & Ke Shen & Yi Zeng, 2015. "The Impact of Health Insurance on Health Outcomes and Spending of the Elderly: Evidence from China's New Cooperative Medical Scheme," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(6), pages 672-691, June.
    3. E. Van de Poel & O. O'Donnell & E. Van Doorslaer, 2012. "Is there a health penalty of China's rapid urbanization?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(4), pages 367-385, April.
    4. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    5. Douglas Almond, 2006. "Is the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Over? Long-Term Effects of In Utero Influenza Exposure in the Post-1940 U.S. Population," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(4), pages 672-712, August.
    6. Seonghoon Kim & Belton Fleisher & Jessica Ya Sun, 2017. "The Long‐term Health Effects of Fetal Malnutrition: Evidence from the 1959–1961 China Great Leap Forward Famine," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(10), pages 1264-1277, October.
    7. Xiaoyan Lei & Wanchuan Lin, 2009. "The New Cooperative Medical Scheme in rural China: does more coverage mean more service and better health?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(S2), pages 25-46, July.
    8. Nemet, Gregory F. & Bailey, Adrian J., 2000. "Distance and health care utilization among the rural elderly," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 50(9), pages 1197-1208, May.
    9. T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), 2008. "Handbook of Development Economics," Handbook of Development Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 4, number 5.
    10. Liu, Hong & Zhao, Zhong, 2014. "Does health insurance matter? Evidence from China’s urban resident basic medical insurance," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 1007-1020.
    11. Linda G. Martin & Qiushi Feng & Robert F. Schoeni & Yi Zeng, 2014. "Trends in Functional and Activity Limitations among Chinese Oldest-Old, 1998 to 2008," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 40(3), pages 475-495, September.
    12. Elizabeth Frankenberg & Jessica Y. Ho & Duncan Thomas, 2015. "Biological Health Risks and Economic Development," NBER Working Papers 21277, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Lei, Xiaoyan & Yin, Nina & Zhao, Yaohui, 2012. "Socioeconomic status and chronic diseases: The case of hypertension in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 105-121.
    14. Reither, Eric N. & Hauser, Robert M. & Yang, Yang, 2009. "Do birth cohorts matter? Age-period-cohort analyses of the obesity epidemic in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 1439-1448, November.
    15. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    16. Dupre, M.E. & Liu, G. & Gu, D., 2008. "Predictors of longevity: Evidence from the oldest old in China," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 98(7), pages 1203-1208.
    17. Mocan, H. Naci & Tekin, Erdal & Zax, Jeffrey S., 2004. "The Demand for Medical Care in Urban China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 289-304, February.
    18. Keyes, Katherine M. & Utz, Rebecca L. & Robinson, Whitney & Li, Guohua, 2010. "What is a cohort effect? Comparison of three statistical methods for modeling cohort effects in obesity prevalence in the United States, 1971-2006," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(7), pages 1100-1108, April.
    19. Strauss, John & Thomas, Duncan, 2008. "Health over the Life Course," Handbook of Development Economics, in: T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 54, pages 3375-3474, Elsevier.
    20. Hui Zheng, 2014. "Aging in the Context of Cohort Evolution and Mortality Selection," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(4), pages 1295-1317, August.
    21. James Vaupel & Kenneth Manton & Eric Stallard, 1979. "The impact of heterogeneity in individual frailty on the dynamics of mortality," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 16(3), pages 439-454, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Feng, Jin & Wang, Zhen & Yu, Yangyang, 2020. "Does long-term care insurance reduce hospital utilization and medical expenditures? Evidence from China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Schultz, T. Paul, 2010. "Population and Health Policies," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4785-4881, Elsevier.
    2. Gutierrez, Federico H., 2014. "Acute morbidity and labor outcomes in Mexico: Testing the role of labor contracts as an income smoothing mechanism," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 1-12.
    3. Shen, Ke & Wang, Feng & Cai, Yong, 2016. "Patterns of inequalities in public transfers by gender in China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 8(C), pages 76-84.
    4. repec:ran:wpaper:774 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Thuan Q. Thai & Evangelos M. Falaris, 2014. "Child Schooling, Child Health, and Rainfall Shocks: Evidence from Rural Vietnam," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(7), pages 1025-1037, July.
    6. Tianxin Pan & Michael Palmer & Ajay Mahal & Peter Annear & Barbara McPake, 2020. "The long‐run effects of noncommunicable disease shocks," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(12), pages 1549-1565, December.
    7. Bhalotra, Sonia & Rawlings, Samantha B., 2011. "Intergenerational persistence in health in developing countries: The penalty of gender inequality?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3-4), pages 286-299, April.
    8. Mani, Subha & Mitra, Sophie & Sambamoorthi, Usha, 2018. "Dynamics in health and employment: Evidence from Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 297-309.
    9. Alacevich, Caterina & Tarozzi, Alessandro, 2017. "Child height and intergenerational transmission of health: Evidence from ethnic Indians in England," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 65-84.
    10. Bairoliya, Neha & Miller, Ray, 2021. "Social insurance, demographics, and rural-urban migration in China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    11. Song, Shige, 2010. "Mortality consequences of the 1959-1961 Great Leap Forward famine in China: Debilitation, selection, and mortality crossovers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 551-558, August.
    12. Krause, Brooke Laura, 2012. "Childhood Malnutrition and Educational Attainment: An Analysis using Oxford’s Young Lives Longitudinal Study in Peru," Master's Theses and Plan B Papers 146072, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    13. Atheendar S. Venkataramani & K.R. Shanmugam & Jennifer Prah Ruger, 2010. "Health, Technical Efficiency, And Agricultural Production In Indian Districts," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 35(4), pages 1-23, December.
    14. Elsa Valli, 2017. "Essays on social protection," Economics PhD Theses 1017, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    15. James Banks & James P. Smith, 2012. "International Comparisons in Health Economics: Evidence from Aging Studies," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 57-81, July.
    16. Subha Mani, 2012. "Is there Complete, Partial, or No Recovery from Childhood Malnutrition? – Empirical Evidence from Indonesia," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 74(5), pages 691-715, October.
    17. begard Iversen & Anirudh Krishna & Kunal Sen, 2017. "Beyond poverty escapes – social mobility in the Global South: A survey article," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 172017, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    18. Sophie Mitra & Michael Palmer & Daniel Mont & Nora Groce, 2016. "Can Households Cope with Health Shocks in Vietnam?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(7), pages 888-907, July.
    19. Bairoliya, Neha & Canning, David & Miller, Ray & Saxena, Akshar, 2018. "The macroeconomic and welfare implications of rural health insurance and pension reforms in China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 11(C), pages 71-92.
    20. Cheng, Lingguo & Liu, Hong & Zhang, Ye & Zhao, Zhong, 2018. "The health implications of social pensions: Evidence from China's new rural pension scheme," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 53-77.
    21. Volha Lazuka, 2019. "Early-Life Assets in Oldest-Old Age: Evidence From Primary Care Reform in Early Twentieth Century Sweden," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(2), pages 679-706, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cohort; China; Elderly health; Physical function; Obesity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • N35 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Asia including Middle East

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:44:y:2017:i:c:p:282-295. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/chieco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.