IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp18365.html

Intergenerational Persistence of Health in Indonesia: The Importance of Using Biomarkers

Author

Listed:
  • Halliday, Timothy

    (University of Hawaii at Manoa)

  • Mazumder, Bhashkar

    (UC Irvine and NBER)

  • Sinha, Kompal

    (Macquarie University)

  • Wang, Huixia

    (Hunan University)

Abstract

We examine health persistence between parents and their adult children in Indonesia using both subjective and objective health measures including biomarkers. Using Principal Components Analysis, we estimate the interegenerational persistence of the combination of these measures to be 0.30, providing some of the first estimates of the transmission of latent health for a middle income country. We also detect a highly significant second principal component suggesting that health has multiple dimensions. We find especially strong associations for biomarkers such as hemoglobin, the pulse rate and hypertension which have typically not been studied in prior intergenerational studies. Transmission is stronger from mothers, and to daughters. We find relatively little variation in intergenerational health transmission by family income or SES. However, we do find strong positive gradients between family SES and the pulse rate and obseity suggesting potential health pitfalls as low and middle income countries further develop. Our findings suggest a potentially important role for policies focused on maternal health in reducing the intergenerational transmission of health.

Suggested Citation

  • Halliday, Timothy & Mazumder, Bhashkar & Sinha, Kompal & Wang, Huixia, 2026. "Intergenerational Persistence of Health in Indonesia: The Importance of Using Biomarkers," IZA Discussion Papers 18365, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18365
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp18365.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andros Kourtellos & Chih Ming Tan & Steven N. Durlauf, 2022. "The Great Gatsby Curve," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 571-605, August.
    2. Timothy J. Halliday & Bhashkar Mazumder, 2017. "An Analysis of Sibling Correlations in Health using Latent Variable Models," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(12), pages 108-125, December.
    3. Blanchflower, David G. & Bryson, Alex, 2022. "Taking the pulse of nations: A biometric measure of well-being," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    4. Chang, Harrison & Halliday, Timothy J. & Lin, Ming-Jen & Mazumder, Bhashkar, 2024. "Estimating intergenerational health transmission in Taiwan with administrative health records," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    5. Graeber, Daniel, 2023. "Intergenerational Health Mobility in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 16567, IZA Network @ LISER.
    6. Aline Bütikofer & Rita Ginja & Krzysztof Karbownik & Fanny Landaud, 2024. "(Breaking) Intergenerational Transmission of Mental Health," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 59(S), pages 108-151.
    7. Kumar Gautam, Santosh & Halliday, Timothy J. & Mazumder, Bhashkar, 2025. "Cycles of Malnutrition: Intergenerational Health Transmission in India," IZA Discussion Papers 17684, IZA Network @ LISER.
    8. Halliday, Timothy & Mazumder, Bhashkar & Wong, Ashley, 2021. "Intergenerational mobility in self-reported health status in the US," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    9. Bhashkar Mazumder, 2005. "Fortunate Sons: New Estimates of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States Using Social Security Earnings Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(2), pages 235-255, May.
    10. repec:pri:cheawb:case_paxson_economic_status_paper is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Lijie Song, 2022. "Examining the Relationship Between Intergenerational Upward Mobility and Inequality: Evidence from Panel Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 1-27, August.
    12. Kumar, Santosh & Nahlen, Bernard, 2023. "Intergenerational persistence of health: Evidence from India," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    13. Duncan Thomas & Elizabeth Frankenberg & James P. Smith, 2001. "Lost but Not Forgotten: Attrition and Follow-up in the Indonesia Family Life Survey," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 36(3), pages 556-592.
    14. repec:pri:cheawb:case_paxson_economic_status_paper.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    15. 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.
    16. Bencsik, Panka & Halliday, Timothy J. & Mazumder, Bhashkar, 2023. "The intergenerational transmission of mental and physical health in the United Kingdom," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    17. Junsen Zhang, 2021. "A Survey on Income Inequality in China," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 59(4), pages 1191-1239, December.
    18. 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.
    19. Akbulut-Yuksel, Mevlude & Kugler, Adriana D., 2016. "Intergenerational persistence of health: Do immigrants get healthier as they remain in the U.S. for more generations?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 136-148.
    20. Carsten Andersen, 2021. "Intergenerational health mobility: Evidence from Danish registers," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(12), pages 3186-3202, December.
    21. Jason Fletcher & Katie M. Jajtner, 2021. "Intergenerational health mobility: Magnitudes and Importance of Schools and Place," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(7), pages 1648-1667, July.
    22. Classen, Timothy J. & Thompson, Owen, 2016. "Genes and the intergenerational transmission of BMI and obesity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 121-133.
    23. Bhashkar Mazumder, 2024. "What do we know about the intergenerational transmission of health," Chapters, in: Elina Kilpi-Jakonen & Jo Blanden & Jani Erola & Lindsey Macmillan (ed.), Research Handbook on Intergenerational Inequality, chapter 11, pages 150-163, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    24. Nathan Deutscher & Bhashkar Mazumder, 2023. "Measuring Intergenerational Income Mobility: A Synthesis of Approaches," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(3), pages 988-1036, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Jajtner, Katie & Wang, Yang, 2025. "The effects of earned income tax credits on intergenerational health mobility in the United States," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    2. Justine Herve & Subha Mani & Jere Behrman & Ramanan Laxminarayan & Arindam Nandi, 2025. "Intergenerational Mobility in Depression and Anxiety in India," PIER Working Paper Archive 25-001, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    3. Kumar Gautam, Santosh & Halliday, Timothy J. & Mazumder, Bhashkar, 2025. "Cycles of Malnutrition: Intergenerational Health Transmission in India," IZA Discussion Papers 17684, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Chang, Harrison & Halliday, Timothy J. & Lin, Ming-Jen & Mazumder, Bhashkar, 2024. "Estimating intergenerational health transmission in Taiwan with administrative health records," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    5. Fletcher, Jason & Jajtner, Katie M., 2023. "Multidimensional intergenerational mobility," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 328(C).
    6. repec:iza:izadps:dp17647 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Bencsik, Panka & Halliday, Timothy J. & Mazumder, Bhashkar, 2023. "The intergenerational transmission of mental and physical health in the United Kingdom," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    8. Kayoko Ishii & Zhi-xiao Jia & Isamu Yamamoto, 2025. "Intergenerational persistence of subjective well-being: Evidence from the Japanese Household Panel Survey on parents and children," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 1047-1074, September.
    9. Halliday, Timothy & Mazumder, Bhashkar & Wong, Ashley, 2021. "Intergenerational mobility in self-reported health status in the US," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    10. Jiao Lu & Yang Yang & Yang Gao, 2024. "Research on the Spatial and Temporal Patterns and Formation Mechanisms of Intergenerational Health Mobility in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 173(3), pages 709-740, July.
    11. Aline Bütikofer & Rita Ginja & Krzysztof Karbownik & Fanny Landaud, 2024. "(Breaking) Intergenerational Transmission of Mental Health," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 59(S), pages 108-151.
    12. Davillas, Apostolos & de Oliveira, Victor Hugo & Raftopoulou, Athina, 2025. "Parental health, adolescents’ mental distress and non-cognitive skills," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    13. Jason Fletcher & Katie M. Jajtner, 2021. "Intergenerational health mobility: Magnitudes and Importance of Schools and Place," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(7), pages 1648-1667, July.
    14. Carsten Andersen, 2021. "Intergenerational health mobility: Evidence from Danish registers," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(12), pages 3186-3202, December.
    15. Chris Clarke & Julien Bonnet & Manuel Flores & Olivier Thévenon, 2024. "What are the economic costs of childhood socio-economic disadvantage? Evidence from a pathway analysis for 27 European countries," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 22(2), pages 473-494, June.
    16. Attanasio, Orazio P. & de Paula, Áureo & Toppeta, Alessandro, 2025. "Intergenerational mobility in socio-emotional skills," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    17. Katie Jajtner & Matt Messel & Jason Fletcher, 2023. "Social Security Disability Insurance and intergenerational economic mobility," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(4), pages 575-593, October.
    18. Hugo Reis & Pedro Carneiro & Alessandro Toppeta, 2024. "Parental Investments and Socio-Economic Gradients in Learning across European Countries," Working Papers w202407, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    19. Ahsan, Md Nazmul & Emran, M. Shahe & Shilpi, Forhad, 2024. "Complementarities and intergenerational educational mobility: Theory and evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 170-191.
    20. Weijuan Wu & Haokai Liao & Xuelin Yang, 2024. "Education disrupts the intergenerational transmission of health disadvantage across three generations in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(6), pages 1-20, June.
    21. Luís Clemente-Casinhas & Luís Filipe Martins & Alexandra Ferreira-Lopes, 2025. "Using Survey Data to Estimate Intergenerational Mobility in Income and Education in Portugal," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 176(1), pages 51-106, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality

    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:dp18365. 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: Mark Fallak (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaalu.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.