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Income inequality and self-rated health status: Evidence from the European Community Household Panel

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  • HILDEBRAND Vincent
  • VAN KERM Philippe

Abstract

We examine the e¤ect of income inequality on individual self-rated health status in a pooled sample of 10 member states of the European Union using longitudinal data from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) survey. Taking advantage of the longitudinal and cross- national nature of our data, and carefully modelling the self-reported health information, we avoid several of the pitfalls su¤ered by earlier studies on this topic. We calculate income inequality indices measured at two stan- dard levels of geography (NUTS-0 and NUTS-1) and .nd consistent evi- dence that income inequality is negatively related to self-rated health status in the European Union for both men and women. However, despite its sta- tistical signi.cance, the magnitude of the impact of inequality on health is small.

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  • HILDEBRAND Vincent & VAN KERM Philippe, 2005. "Income inequality and self-rated health status: Evidence from the European Community Household Panel," IRISS Working Paper Series 2005-01, IRISS at CEPS/INSTEAD.
    • Handle: RePEc:irs:iriswp:2005-01
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    Cited by:

    1. Valerii Baidin & Christopher J. Gerry & Maria Kaneva, 2021. "How Self-Rated is Self-Rated Health? Exploring the Role of Individual and Institutional Factors in Reporting Heterogeneity in Russia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(2), pages 675-696, June.
    2. Amélie Adeline & Eric Delattre, 2017. "Some microeconometric evidence on the relationship between health and income," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Connolly, Sheelah & Wren, Maev-Ann, 2017. "Unmet healthcare needs in Ireland: Analysis using the EU-SILC survey," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(4), pages 434-441.
    4. Kumar, Kaushalendra & Shukla, Ankita & Singh, Abhishek & Ram, Faujdar & Kowal, Paul, 2016. "Association between wealth and health among older adults in rural China and India," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 7(C), pages 43-52.
    5. Petri Böckerman & Pekka Ilmakunnas, 2009. "Unemployment and self‐assessed health: evidence from panel data," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(2), pages 161-179, February.
    6. Michal Brzezinski, 2018. "What accounts for the rise of low self-rated health during the recent economic crisis in Europe?," Working Papers 2018-16, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    7. Tom Van Ourti & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Xander Koolman, 2006. "The Effect of Growth and Inequality in Incomes on Health Inequality: Theory and Empirical Evidence from the European Panel," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 06-108/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    8. Petri Böckerman, 2013. "Top Income Shares and Mortality: Evidence from Advanced Countries," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 22(1), pages 57-69, March.
    9. MAZEIKAITE Gintare & O'DONOGHUE Cathal & SOLOGON Denisa, 2017. "Decomposing health inequality in the EU," LISER Working Paper Series 2017-02, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    10. Alessio Fusco & Paul Dickes, 2008. "The Rasch Model and Multidimensional Poverty Measurement," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Nanak Kakwani & Jacques Silber (ed.), Quantitative Approaches to Multidimensional Poverty Measurement, chapter 3, pages 49-62, Palgrave Macmillan.
    11. Bakshi, Sanjeev & Pathak, Prasanta, 2010. "What makes them feel healthier? the correlates of self-perceived health among older adults in India," MPRA Paper 40541, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Canh Phuc Nguyen & Christophe Schinckus & Thanh Dinh Su, 2020. "Economic policy uncertainty and demand for international tourism: An empirical study," Tourism Economics, , vol. 26(8), pages 1415-1430, December.
    13. Owen O'Donnell & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Tom Van Ourti, 2013. "Health and Inequality," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-170/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    14. Modrek, Sepideh & Dow, William H. & Rosero-Bixby, Luis, 2012. "Long-term association of economic inequality and mortality in adult Costa Ricans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 158-166.
    15. VAN KERM Philippe, 2006. "Comparisons of income mobility profiles," IRISS Working Paper Series 2006-03, IRISS at CEPS/INSTEAD.
    16. Cooper, D. & McCausland, W.D. & Theodossiou, I., 2006. "The health hazards of unemployment and poor education: The socioeconomic determinants of health duration in the European Union," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 273-297, December.
    17. Yusuf Çelik & Mahmud Khan & Neşet Hikmet, 2017. "Achieving value for money in health: a comparative analysis of OECD countries and regional countries," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 279-298, October.
    18. Karlsson, Martin & Nilsson, Therese & Lyttkens, Carl Hampus & Leeson, George, 2010. "Income inequality and health: Importance of a cross-country perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 875-885, March.
    19. Van Ourti, Tom & van Doorslaer, Eddy & Koolman, Xander, 2009. "The effect of income growth and inequality on health inequality: Theory and empirical evidence from the European Panel," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 525-539, May.
    20. Cristina Blanco-Perez, 2012. "Rethinking the Relative Income Hypothesis," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 501, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    21. Gintare Mazeikaite & Cathal O’Donoghue & Denisa M. Sologon, 2021. "What Drives Cross-Country Health Inequality in the EU? Unpacking the Role of Socio-economic Factors," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 117-155, May.
    22. Baoxi Li & De Xiao, 2021. "The Impact of Income Inequality on Subjective Environmental Pollution: Individual Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-26, July.
    23. Stefan Stremersch & Vardit Landsman & Sriram Venkataraman, 2013. "The Relationship Between DTCA, Drug Requests, and Prescriptions: Uncovering Variation in Specialty and Space," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(1), pages 89-110, June.
    24. Lucy Bechtel & Grace Lordan & D. S. Prasada Rao, 2012. "Income Inequality And Mental Health—Empirical Evidence From Australia," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(S1), pages 4-17, June.
    25. M. D. R. Evans & Jonathan Kelley & C. G. E. Kelley & S. M. C. Kelley, 2020. "Income Inequality in the Great Recession did not Harm Subjective Health in Europe, 2003–2012," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(5), pages 1451-1473, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    inequality; self-rated; community;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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