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Longitudinal analysis of income-related health inequality

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  • Allanson, Paul
  • Petrie, Dennis
  • Gerdtham, Ulf-G

Abstract

This paper considers the characterisation and measurement of income-related health inequality using longitudinal data. The paper elucidates the nature of the Jones and Lopez Nicholas (2004) index of health-related income mobility and explains the negative values of the index that have been reported in all the empirical applications to date. The paper further questions the value of their index to health policymakers and proposes an alternative index of income-related health mobilityâ that measures whether the pattern of health changes is biased in favour of those with initially high or low incomes. We illustrate our work by investigating mobility in the General Health Questionnaire measure of psychological well-being over the first nine waves of the British Household Panel Survey from 1991 to 1999.

Suggested Citation

  • Allanson, Paul & Petrie, Dennis & Gerdtham, Ulf-G, 2008. "Longitudinal analysis of income-related health inequality," SIRE Discussion Papers 2008-38, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    • Handle: RePEc:edn:sirdps:51
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    Cited by:

    1. Paul Allanson & Dennis Petrie, 2014. "Understanding The Vertical Equity Judgements Underpinning Health Inequality Measures," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(11), pages 1390-1396, November.
    2. Baeten, Steef & Van Ourti, Tom & van Doorslaer, Eddy, 2013. "Rising inequalities in income and health in China: Who is left behind?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 1214-1229.
    3. David (David Patrick) Madden, 2020. "The Socioeconomic Gradient of Cognitive Test Scores: Evidence from Two Cohorts of Irish Children," Working Papers 202020, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    4. FLEURBAEY, Marc & SCHOKKAERT, Erik, 2011. "Equity in health and health care," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2011026, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    5. KESSELS, Roselinde & ERREYGERS, Guido, 2014. "A unified structural equation modeling approach for the decomposition of rank-dependent indicators of socioeconomic inequality of health," Working Papers 2014013, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    6. Coveney, Max & García-Gómez, Pilar & van Doorslaer, Eddy & Van Ourti, Tom, 2020. "Thank goodness for stickiness: Unravelling the evolution of income-related health inequalities before and after the Great Recession in Europe," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    7. Pinka Chatterji & Kajal Lahiri & Jingya Song, 2011. "The Dynamics of Income-related Health Inequality among US Children," CESifo Working Paper Series 3572, CESifo.
    8. Petrie, Dennis & Allanson, Paul & Gerdtham, Ulf-G., 2011. "Accounting for the dead in the longitudinal analysis of income-related health inequalities," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 1113-1123.
    9. Pinka Chatterji & Kajal Lahiri & Jingya Song, 2013. "The Dynamics Of Income‐Related Health Inequality Among American Children," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(5), pages 623-629, May.
    10. Halleröd, Björn & Gustafsson, Jan-Eric, 2011. "A longitudinal analysis of the relationship between changes in socio-economic status and changes in health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 116-123, January.
    11. Cubi-Molla, P. & Jofre-Bonet, M. & Serra-Sastre, V., 2013. "Adaptation to Health States: A Micro-Econometric Approach," Working Papers 13/02, Department of Economics, City University London.
    12. Allanson, Paul & Petrie, Dennis, 2013. "Longitudinal methods to investigate the role of health determinants in the dynamics of income-related health inequality," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 922-937.
    13. Giovanni Crea & Valentina Beretta, 2020. "Chronic diseases in Italy: Does socioeconomic status carry weight?," DEM Working Papers Series 187, University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Management.
    14. Allanson, Paul, 2010. "Longitudinal analysis of income-related health inequality: welfare foundations and alternative measures," SIRE Discussion Papers 2010-71, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    15. Gustav Kjellsson & Dennis Petrie & Tom (T.G.M.) van Ourti, 2018. "Measuring income-related inequalities in risky health prospects," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 18-007/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    16. Nesson, Erik T. & Robinson, Joshua J., 2015. "An information theory based framework for the measurement of population health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 86-103.
    17. Aristides dos Santos, Anderson Moreira & Perelman, Julian & Jacinto, Paulo de Andrade & Tejada, Cesar Augusto Oviedo & Barros, Aluísio J.D. & Bertoldi, Andréa D. & Matijasevich, Alicia & Santos, Iná S, 2019. "Income-related inequality and inequity in children’s health care: A longitudinal analysis using data from Brazil," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 127-137.
    18. Allanson, Paul & Petrie, Dennis, 2011. "On decomposing the causes of changes in income-related health inequality with longitudinal data," SIRE Discussion Papers 2011-15, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    19. Hansen, Fredrik & Anell, Anders & Gerdtham, Ulf-G & Lyttkens, Carl Hampus, 2013. "The Future of Health Economics: The Potential of Behavioral and Experimental Economics," Working Papers 2013:20, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    20. Calara, Paul Samuel & Gerdtham, Ulf-G & Petrie, Dennis, 2016. "The Dynamics of Income-Related Health Inequalities in Australia versus Great Britain," Working Papers 2016:20, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    21. Paul Allanson & Dennis Petrie, 2013. "On The Choice Of Health Inequality Measure For The Longitudinal Analysis Of Income‐Related Health Inequalities," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(3), pages 353-365, March.
    22. Madden, D., 2016. "Child and Adolescent Obesity in Ireland: A Longitudinal Perspective," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 16/12, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    23. Costa-Font, Joan & Hernández-Quevedo, Cristina, 2012. "Measuring inequalities in health: What do we know? What do we need to know?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(2), pages 195-206.
    24. Marcello Basili & Filippo Belloc, 2012. "How to Measure the Economic Impact of Vector-Borne Diseases at a Country Level: An Assessment," Department of Economics University of Siena 648, Department of Economics, University of Siena.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    income-related health inequality; mobility analysis; longitudinal data;

    JEL classification:

    • D39 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Other
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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