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Ill-Health as a Household Norm: Evidence from Other People's Health Problems

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  • N Powdthavee

Abstract

This paper presents evidence that an individual's self-assessed health (SAH) does not only suffer from systematic reporting bias and adaptation bias but is also biased owing to confounding social norm effects. Using 13 waves of the British Household Panel Survey, I am able to show that, while there is a negative and statistically significant correlation between SAH and individuals' own health problem index, this negative effect varies significantly with the average number of health problems per (other) family member. Consistent with Akerlof's (1980) social norm theory, the gap in SAH between individuals with and without health problems reduces as the average number of health problems for other household members increases. Under the assumption that SAH is endogenous, this finding suggests that the objective health of other household members could be a good instrument for self-assessed levels of health.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Department of Economics, University of York in its series Discussion Papers with number 08/21.

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Date of creation: Jul 2008
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Handle: RePEc:yor:yorken:08/21

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Postal: Department of Economics and Related Studies, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
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Keywords: Self-assessed health; subjective health; relative; norm; comparison effects; chronic illness; BHPS;

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References

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Timothy A. Weterings & Mark N. Harris & Bruce Hollingsworth, 2012. "Extending Unobserved Heterogeneity - A Strategy for Accounting for Respondent Perceptions in the Absence of Suitable Data," Monash Econometrics and Business Statistics Working Papers 12/12, Monash University, Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics.
  2. Nattavudh Powdthavee, 2012. "Jobless, Friendless and Broke: What Happens to Different Areas of Life Before and After Unemployment?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 79(315), pages 557-575, 07.
  3. Apouey, Bénédicte & Clark, Andrew E., 2010. "Winning Big but Feeling No Better? The Effect of Lottery Prizes on Physical and Mental Health," IZA Discussion Papers 4730, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  4. Gil, Joan & Mora, Toni, 2011. "The determinants of misreporting weight and height: The role of social norms," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 78-91, January.
  5. Nattavudh Powdthavee, 2009. "Estimating the Causal Effects of Income on Happiness," Discussion Papers 09/02, Department of Economics, University of York.
  6. Clark, Andrew E., 2011. "Happiness, Habits and High Rank: Comparisons in Economic and Social Life," IZA Discussion Papers 5966, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  7. Vincenzo Carrieri & Maria De Paola, 2011. "The Effects Of Peoples’ Height And Relative Height On Well-Being," Working Papers 201110, Università della Calabria, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Statistiche e Finanziarie (Ex Dipartimento di Economia e Statistica).
  8. Powdthavee, Nattavudh & van den Berg, Bernard, 2011. "Putting different price tags on the same health condition: Re-evaluating the well-being valuation approach," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 1032-1043.
  9. Blázquez, Maite & Budría, Santiago, 2011. "Deprivation and Subjective Well-being: Evidence from Panel Data," Working Papers in Economic Theory 2011/08, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), Department of Economic Analysis (Economic Theory and Economic History).

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