IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp6297.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

International Comparisons in Health Economics: Evidence from Aging Studies

Author

Listed:
  • Banks, James

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies, London)

  • Smith, James P.

    (RAND)

Abstract

We provide an overview of the growing literature that uses micro-level data from multiple countries to investigate health outcomes, and their link to socioeconomic factors, at older ages. Since the data are at a comparatively young stage, much of the analysis is at an early stage and limited to a handful of countries, with analysis for the US and England being the most common. What is immediately apparent as we get better measures is that health differences between countries amongst those at older ages are real and large. Countries are ranked differently according to whether one considers life-expectancy, prevalence or incidence of one condition or another. And the magnitude of international disparities may vary according to whether measures utilize doctor diagnosed conditions or biomarker-based indicators of disease and poor health. But one key finding emerges – the US ranks poorly on all indicators with the exception of self-reported subjective health status.

Suggested Citation

  • Banks, James & Smith, James P., 2012. "International Comparisons in Health Economics: Evidence from Aging Studies," IZA Discussion Papers 6297, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6297
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp6297.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    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. van Kippersluis, Hans & O'Donnell, Owen & van Doorslaer, Eddy & Van Ourti, Tom, 2010. "Socioeconomic differences in health over the life cycle in an Egalitarian country," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 428-438, February.
    3. Jonathan Gruber & David A. Wise, 2010. "Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: The Relationship to Youth Employment," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number grub08-1, July.
    4. van Soest, Arthur & Delaney, Liam & Harmon, Colm P. & Kapteyn, Arie & Smith, James P., 2007. "Validating the Use of Vignettes for Subjective Threshold Scales," IZA Discussion Papers 2860, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Banks, James & Muriel, Alastair & Smith, James P., 2010. "Attrition and Health in Ageing Studies: Evidence from ELSA and HRS," IZA Discussion Papers 5161, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. repec:pri:cheawb:case_paxson_economic_status_paper is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Erdogan-Ciftci, Esen & van Doorslaer, Eddy & Bago d'Uva, Teresa & van Lenthe, Frank, 2010. "Do self-perceived health changes predict longevity?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(11), pages 1981-1988, December.
    8. repec:cup:apsrev:v:98:y:2004:i:01:p:191-207_00 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. James P. Smith, 2007. "The Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Health over the Life-Course," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(4).
    10. David A. Wise, 2009. "Developments in the Economics of Aging," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number wise09-1, July.
    11. Arie Kapteyn, 2010. "What can we learn from (and about) global aging?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), pages 191-209.
    12. Teresa Bago d'Uva & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Maarten Lindeboom & Owen O'Donnell, 2008. "Does reporting heterogeneity bias the measurement of health disparities?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(3), pages 351-375, March.
    13. T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), 2008. "Handbook of Development Economics," Handbook of Development Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 4, number 5.
    14. James Banks & Alastair Muriel & James Smith, 2010. "Disease prevalence, disease incidence, and mortality in the United States and in England," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 47(1), pages 211-231, March.
    15. Jonathan Gruber & David A. Wise, 2004. "Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Micro-Estimation," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number grub04-1, July.
    16. Arie Kapteyn & Pierre-Carl Michaud & James P. Smith & Arthur Van Soest, 2006. "Effects of Attrition and Non-Response in the Health and Retirement Study," Working Papers WR-407, RAND Corporation.
    17. James P. Smith, 1999. "Healthy Bodies and Thick Wallets: The Dual Relation between Health and Economic Status," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 145-166, Spring.
    18. Teresa Bago d’Uva & Maarten Lindeboom & Owen O’Donnell & Eddy van Doorslaer, 2011. "Slipping Anchor?: Testing the Vignettes Approach to Identification and Correction of Reporting Heterogeneity," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 46(4), pages 875-906.
    19. Angus S. Deaton & Christina Paxson, 2004. "Mortality, Income, and Income Inequality over Time in Britain and the United States," NBER Chapters, in: Perspectives on the Economics of Aging, pages 247-286, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Jérôme Adda & Francesca Cornaglia, 2006. "Taxes, Cigarette Consumption, and Smoking Intensity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(4), pages 1013-1028, September.
    21. Jonathan Gruber & David A. Wise, 2007. "Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Fiscal Implications of Reform," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number grub07-1, July.
    22. Peter Adams & Michael D. Hurd & Daniel L. McFadden & Angela Merrill & Tiago Ribeiro, 2004. "Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise? Tests for Direct Causal Paths between Health and Socioeconomic Status," NBER Chapters, in: Perspectives on the Economics of Aging, pages 415-526, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Alan M. Garber & Jonathan Skinner, 2008. "Is American Health Care Uniquely Inefficient?," NBER Working Papers 14257, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Jonathan Gruber & David A. Wise, 1999. "Social Security and Retirement around the World," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number grub99-1, July.
    25. Alan M. Garber & Jonathan Skinner, 2008. "Is American Health Care Uniquely Inefficient?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(4), pages 27-50, Fall.
    26. repec:pri:cheawb:case_paxson_economic_status_paper.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    27. McDade Thomas, 2011. "The State and Future of Blood-Based Biomarkers in the Health and Retirement Study," Forum for Health Economics & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 14(3), pages 1-22, April.
    28. Arie Kapteyn, 2010. "What can we learn from (and about) global aging?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 47(1), pages 191-209, March.
    29. Anne Case & Darren Lubotsky & Christina Paxson, 2002. "Economic Status and Health in Childhood: The Origins of the Gradient," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1308-1334, December.
    30. Jonathan Gruber & David A. Wise, 2007. "Introduction to "Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Fiscal Implications of Reform"," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Fiscal Implications of Reform, pages 1-42, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    31. 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.
    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. J. Gimenez-Nadal & Jose Molina, 2016. "Health inequality and the uses of time for workers in Europe: policy implications," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-18, December.
    2. Wang, Huixia & Wang, Chenggang & Halliday, Timothy J., 2018. "Health and health inequality during the great recession: Evidence from the PSID," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 17-30.
    3. McGovern, Mark E., 2014. "Comparing the relationship between stature and later life health in six low and middle income countries," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 4(C), pages 128-148.
    4. Timothy J. Halliday & Bhashkar Mazumder & Ashley Wong, 2020. "The intergenerational transmission of health in the United States: A latent variables analysis," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(3), pages 367-381, March.
    5. Maruyama, Shiko, 2015. "The effect of coresidence on parental health in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 1-22.
    6. Mommaerts, Corina & Raza, Syed Hassan & Zheng, Yu, 2020. "The economic consequences of hospitalizations for older workers across countries," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    7. James Banks & Janet Currie & Sonya Krutikova & Kjell G. Salvanes & Hannes Schwandt, 2021. "The Evolution of Mortality Inequality in 11 OECD Countries: Introduction," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(1), pages 9-23, March.
    8. Baumberg Geiger, Ben & Böheim, René & Leoni, Thomas, 2018. "The Growing American Health Penalty: International Trends in the Employment of Older Workers with Poor Health," IZA Discussion Papers 11769, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. James Banks & Iris Kesternich & James P. Smith, 2021. "International differences in interspousal health correlations," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1152-1177, May.
    10. Dobrescu, L.I. & Smith, J.P., 2016. "The HRS Around the World Surveys," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 993-1018, Elsevier.
    11. Banks, James & Brugiavini, Agar & Pasini, Giacomo, 2020. "The powerful combination of cross-country comparisons and life-history data," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    12. Timothy J. Halliday, 2017. "Earnings Growth and Movements in Self‐Reported Health," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63(4), pages 760-776, December.
    13. Ye Fan & Ming Fang & Xin Zhang & Yongda Yu, 2023. "Will the economic growth benefit public health? Health vulnerability, urbanization and COVID-19 in the USA," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 70(1), pages 81-99, February.

    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. Owen O'Donnell & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Tom Van Ourti, 2013. "Health and Inequality," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-170/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    2. Kim, Younoh & Sikoki, Bondan & Strauss, John & Witoelar, Firman, 2015. "Intergenerational correlations of health among older adults: Empirical evidence from Indonesia," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 6(C), pages 44-56.
    3. repec:ran:wpaper:774 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Kevin S. Milligan & David A. Wise, 2011. "Social Security and Retirement around the World: Historical Trends in Mortality and Health, Employment, and Disability Insurance Participation and Reforms - Introduction and Summary," NBER Working Papers 16719, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Axel H. Börsch-Supan & Courtney Coile, 2018. "Social Security Programs and Retirement Around the World: Reforms and Retirement Incentives – Introduction and Summary," NBER Working Papers 25280, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Binswanger, J. & Carman, K.G., 2011. "The Role of Desicion Making Processes in the Correlation between Wealth and Health," Other publications TiSEM deb8d0eb-7290-4a34-931b-d, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    7. Courtney Coile & Kevin Milligan & David A. Wise, 2014. "Introduction to "Social Security Programs and Retirement Around the World: Disability Insurance Programs and Retirement"," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security Programs and Retirement Around the World: Disability Insurance Programs and Retirement, pages 1-44, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Axel Börsch-Supan & Courtney Coile, 2023. "Introduction and Summary, "Social Security Programs and Retirement Around the World: The Effects of Reforms on Retirement Behavior"," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: The Effects of Reforms on Retirement Behavior, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Courtney Coile & Kevin S. Milligan & David A. Wise, 2016. "Social Security and Retirement Programs Around the World: The Capacity to Work at Older Ages – Introduction and Summary," NBER Working Papers 21939, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Courtney Coile & Kevin S. Milligan & David A. Wise, 2018. "Social Security Programs and Retirement Around the World: Working Longer – Introduction and Summary," NBER Working Papers 24584, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Axel H. Börsch-Supan & Courtney Coile, 2023. "The Effects of Reforms on Retirement Behavior: Introduction and Summary," NBER Working Papers 31979, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Kevin Milligan & David A. Wise, 2012. "Introduction and Summary to "Social Security and Retirement around the World: Historical Trends in Mortality and Health, Employment, and Disability Insurance Participation and Reforms"," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Historical Trends in Mortality and Health, Employment, and Disability Insurance Participatio, pages 1-39, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Strauss, John & Lei, Xiaoyan & Park, Albert & Shen, Yan & Smith, James P. & Yang, Zhe & Zhao, Yaohui, 2010. "Health Outcomes and Socio-Economic Status among the Elderly in China: Evidence from the CHARLS Pilot," IZA Discussion Papers 5152, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Ren Mu, 2014. "Regional Disparities In Self‐Reported Health: Evidence From Chinese Older Adults," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(5), pages 529-549, May.
    15. Axel Börsch-Supan & Courtney Coile, 2019. "Introduction to "Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Reforms and Retirement Incentives"," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Reforms and Retirement Incentives, pages 1-42, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Courtney C. Coile & Kevin Milligan & David A. Wise, 2018. "Introduction to "Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Working Longer"," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Working Longer, pages 1-32, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Jinkook Lee, 2010. "Data sets on pensions and health: Data collection and sharing for policy design," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 63(3‐4), pages 197-222, July.
    18. David M. Cutler & Adriana Lleras-Muney & Tom Vogl, 2008. "Socioeconomic Status and Health: Dimensions and Mechanisms," NBER Working Papers 14333, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Courtney Coile, 2022. "Social Security and Retirement Around the World: Lessons from a Long-Term Collaboration," Working Papers 2022-02, FEDEA.
    20. Courtney Coile & Kevin S. Milligan & David A. Wise, 2014. "Social Security Programs and Retirement Around the World: Disability Insurance Programs and Retirement - Introduction and Summary," NBER Working Papers 20120, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Younoh Kim, 2015. "Hypertension dynamics in the elderly population," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(1), pages 528-539.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    international health; labor markets;

    JEL classification:

    • I0 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General
    • H0 - Public Economics - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:iza:izadps:dp6297. 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: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    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.