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Polarisation and Health

Author

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  • Blanco Perez, Cristina

    (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

  • Ramos, Xavier

    (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of income polarisation on individual health. We argue that polarisation captures much better the social tension and conflict that underlie some of the pathways linking income disparities and individual health, and which have been traditionally proxied by inequality. We test our premises with panel data for Spain. Results show that polarisation has a detrimental effect on health. We also find that the way the relevant population subgroups are defined is important: polarisation is only significant if measured between education-age groups for each region. Regional polarisation is not significant. Our results are obtained conditional on a comprehensive set of controls, including absolute and relative income.

Suggested Citation

  • Blanco Perez, Cristina & Ramos, Xavier, 2008. "Polarisation and Health," IZA Discussion Papers 3727, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3727
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    Cited by:

    1. Scott Rozelle & Yiran Xia & Dimitris Friesen & Bronson Vanderjack & Nourya Cohen, 2020. "Moving Beyond Lewis: Employment and Wage Trends in China’s High- and Low-Skilled Industries and the Emergence of an Era of Polarization," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 62(4), pages 555-589, December.
    2. Marta Pascual & David Cantarero & Paloma Lanza, 2018. "Health polarization and inequalities across Europe: an empirical approach," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(8), pages 1039-1051, November.
    3. Carlos Sánchez-González & Rosa M. García-Fernández, 2020. "A Multivariate Indicator to Compute Middle Class Population," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 147(1), pages 1-14, January.
    4. Mario Holzner, 2012. "The Determinants of Income Polarization on the Household and Country Level across the EU," wiiw Working Papers 93, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    5. Ada Ferrer-i-carbonell & X. Ramos & M. Oviedo, 2013. "GINI Country Report: Growing Inequalities and their Impacts in Spain," GINI Country Reports spain, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.
    6. Wang, Chen & Wan, Guanghua, 2015. "Income polarization in China: Trends and changes," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 58-72.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    conflict; social capital; fixed-effects ordered logit model; health; psychosocial stress; polarisation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health

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