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Income Inequality and Health: Importance of a Cross-Country Perspective

Author

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  • Karlsson, Martin
  • Nilsson, Therese
  • Lyttkens, Carl Hampus
  • Leeson, George

Abstract

This paper uses a unique dataset-containing information collected in 2006 on individuals aged 40-79 in 21 countries throughout the world to examine whether individual income, relative income in a reference group, and income inequality are related to health status across middle/low and high-income countries. The dependent variable is self-assessed health (SAH), and as a robustness check, activities of daily living (ADL) are considered. The focus is particularly on assumptions regarding an individual's reference group and on how the estimated relationships depend on the level of economic development. Correcting for national differences in health reporting behavior, individual absolute income is found to be positively related to individual health. Furthermore, in the high-income sample, there is strong evidence that average income within a peer-age group is negatively related to health, thus supporting the relative income hypothesis. In middle/low-income countries, it is instead average regional income that is negatively associated with health. Finally, there is evidence of a negative relationship between income inequality and individual health in high-income countries. Overall, the results suggest that there might be important differences in these relationships between high-income and middle/low-income countries.
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Suggested Citation

  • Karlsson, Martin & Nilsson, Therese & Lyttkens, Carl Hampus & Leeson, George, 2009. "Income Inequality and Health: Importance of a Cross-Country Perspective," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 37747, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    • Handle: RePEc:dar:wpaper:37747
    Note: for complete metadata visit http://tubiblio.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/37747/
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    Cited by:

    1. Lillard, Dean R. & Burkhauser, Richard V. & Hahn, Markus H. & Wilkins, Roger, 2015. "Does early-life income inequality predict self-reported health in later life? Evidence from the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 347-355.
    2. Bergh, Andreas & Nilsson, Therese, 2010. "Good for Living? On the Relationship between Globalization and Life Expectancy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(9), pages 1191-1203, September.
    3. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Yuan, Zihao & Ho, Shan-Ju, 2022. "How does export diversification affect income inequality? International evidence," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 410-421.
    4. Chiappini, Raphaël & Coupaud, Marine & Viaud, François, 2022. "Does attracting FDI affect population health? New evidence from a multi-dimensional measure of health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    5. Clément, Matthieu & Levasseur, Pierre & Seetahul, Suneha & Piaser, Lucie, 2021. "Does inequality have a silver lining? Municipal income inequality and obesity in Mexico," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    6. Johanna Muckenhuber & Nathalie Burkert & Franziska Großschädl & Wolfgang Freidl, 2014. "Income Inequality as a Moderator of the Relationship between Psychological Job Demands and Sickness Absence, in Particular in Men: An International Comparison of 23 Countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(2), pages 1-6, February.
    7. Stefan Gruber & Gregor Sand, 2022. "Does Migration Pay Off in Later Life? Income and Subjective Well-Being of Older Migrants in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 969-988, April.
    8. Loree, Jacob, 2015. "State Level Income Inequality and Individual Self-Reported Health Status: Evidence from the United States," MPRA Paper 72638, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Elgar, Frank J. & Gariépy, Geneviève & Torsheim, Torbjørn & Currie, Candace, 2017. "Early-life income inequality and adolescent health and well-being," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 197-208.
    10. Karlsdotter, Kristina & Martín Martín, José J. & López del Amo González, M. Puerto, 2012. "Multilevel analysis of income, income inequalities and health in Spain," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(7), pages 1099-1106.
    11. Herzer, Dierk & Nunnenkamp, Peter, 2015. "Income inequality and health: Evidence from developed and developing countries," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 9, pages 1-56.
    12. Nilsson, Therese & Bergh, Andreas, 2012. "Income Inequality and Individual Health: Exploring the Association in a Developing Country," Working Papers 2012:1, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    13. Nádia Simões & Nuno Crespo & Sandrina B. Moreira & Celeste A. Varum, 2016. "Measurement and determinants of health poverty and richness: evidence from Portugal," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 1331-1358, June.
    14. Costa-Font, Joan & Mas, Núria, 2016. "‘Globesity’? The effects of globalization on obesity and caloric intake," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 121-132.
    15. Roberta Torre & Mikko Myrskylä, 2014. "Income inequality and population health: An analysis of panel data for 21 developed countries, 1975-2006," Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 68(1), pages 1-13, March.
    16. Md Samsul Alam & Md Shahidul Islam & Syed Jawad Hussain Shahzad & Shazia Bilal, 2021. "Rapid rise of life expectancy in Bangladesh: Does financial development matter?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 4918-4931, October.
    17. Cristina Blanco-Perez, 2012. "Rethinking the Relative Income Hypothesis," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 501, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    18. Owen O'Donnell & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Tom Van Ourti, 2013. "Health and Inequality," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-170/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    19. Khaled Elmawazini & Pranlal Manga & Sonny Nwankwo & Bader AlNaser, 2019. "Health gap between developed and developing countries: Does globalization matter?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 123-138, May.
    20. Christine Mayrhuber & Matthias Firgo & Hans Pitlik & Alois Guger & Ewald Walterskirchen, 2018. "Sozialstaat und Standortqualität," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 61006, June.
    21. Igor Fedotenkov & Pavel Derkachev, 2020. "Gender longevity gap and socioeconomic indicators in developed countries," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 47(1), pages 127-144, January.

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