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Family health effects: complements or substitutes

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Author Info
Michael Lee Ganz (Department of Maternal and Child Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA)
Abstract

Genetic endowments play a fundamental role in the production of health. At birth individuals have different capacities to be healthy, largely due to genetic dispositions. Whether or not individuals realize this health depends on their choice of health behaviours. Previous research has linked negative factors beyond the individual's control, which include genetic endowments, to both poor health and poor health behaviours. The health economics literature proposes that behaviours and genetic (or family health) endowments can be either substitutes or complements in the production of health. The goal of this paper is to investigate the behavioural consequences of changes in knowledge about one's genetic endowment. Using two waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I Epidemiologic Followup Study, I find that for smokers, smoking intensity substitutes for newly diagnosed smoking-related family cancers, while smoking intensity is complementary to newly diagnosed non-smoking-related family cancers. I find no evidence for the hypothesized relationships with respect to alcohol consumption among drinkers. These results have implications for the growing field of genetic testing and test development. These results also reinforce current practices of ascertaining family health histories in the context of medical history taking. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/hec.612
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Publisher Info
Article provided by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. in its journal Health Economics.

Volume (Year): 10 (2001)
Issue (Month): 8 ()
Pages: 699-714
Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:10:y:2001:i:8:p:699-714

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Web page: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/5749

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  1. Douglas Coate & Michael Grossman, 1988. "Effects of Alcoholic Beverage Prices and Legal Drinking Ages on Youth Alcohol Use," NBER Working Papers 1852, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Grossman, Michael, 1972. "On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(2), pages 223-55, March-Apr. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Douglas Coate & Michael Grossman, 1988. "Carbon Monoxide in the Ambient Air and Blood Pressure: Evidence From NHANES II and the SAROAD System," NBER Working Papers 2711, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Coate, Douglas & Fowles, Richard, 1989. "Is there statistical evidence for a blood lead-blood pressure relationship?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 173-184, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Holm, Hakan J., 1997. "Genetic information and investment in human capital," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 435-452, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. William H. Dow & Tomas J. Philipson & Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 1999. "Longevity Complementarities under Competing Risks," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(5), pages 1358-1371, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Tabarrok, Alexander, 1994. "Genetic testing: An economic and contractarian analysis," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 75-91, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Becker, Gary S & Murphy, Kevin M, 1988. "A Theory of Rational Addiction," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(4), pages 675-700, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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