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International Comparisons in Health Economics: Evidence from Aging Studies

Author

Listed:
  • Banks, James

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies, London)

  • Smith, James P.

    (RAND)

Abstract

We provide an overview of the growing literature that uses micro-level data from multiple countries to investigate health outcomes, and their link to socioeconomic factors, at older ages. Since the data are at a comparatively young stage, much of the analysis is at an early stage and limited to a handful of countries, with analysis for the US and England being the most common. What is immediately apparent as we get better measures is that health differences between countries amongst those at older ages are real and large. Countries are ranked differently according to whether one considers life-expectancy, prevalence or incidence of one condition or another. And the magnitude of international disparities may vary according to whether measures utilize doctor diagnosed conditions or biomarker-based indicators of disease and poor health. But one key finding emerges – the US ranks poorly on all indicators with the exception of self-reported subjective health status.

Suggested Citation

  • Banks, James & Smith, James P., 2012. "International Comparisons in Health Economics: Evidence from Aging Studies," IZA Discussion Papers 6297, IZA Network @ LISER.
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6297
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    Cited by:

    1. Maruyama, Shiko, 2015. "The effect of coresidence on parental health in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 1-22.
    2. Mommaerts, Corina & Raza, Syed Hassan & Zheng, Yu, 2020. "The economic consequences of hospitalizations for older workers across countries," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    3. James Banks & Janet Currie & Sonya Krutikova & Kjell G. Salvanes & Hannes Schwandt, 2021. "The Evolution of Mortality Inequality in 11 OECD Countries: Introduction," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(1), pages 9-23, March.
    4. Banks, James & Brugiavini, Agar & Pasini, Giacomo, 2020. "The powerful combination of cross-country comparisons and life-history data," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    5. Ben Baumberg Geiger & René Böheim & Thomas Leoni, 2018. "The growing American health penalty: International trends in the employment of older workers with poor health," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp271, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    6. McGovern, Mark E., 2014. "Comparing the relationship between stature and later life health in six low and middle income countries," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 4(C), pages 128-148.
    7. Dobrescu, L.I. & Smith, J.P., 2016. "The HRS Around the World Surveys," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 993-1018, Elsevier.
    8. J. Gimenez-Nadal & Jose Molina, 2016. "Health inequality and the uses of time for workers in Europe: policy implications," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-18, December.
    9. James Banks & Iris Kesternich & James P. Smith, 2021. "International differences in interspousal health correlations," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1152-1177, May.
    10. Timothy J. Halliday, 2017. "Earnings Growth and Movements in Self‐Reported Health," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63(4), pages 760-776, December.
    11. Ye Fan & Ming Fang & Xin Zhang & Yongda Yu, 2023. "Will the economic growth benefit public health? Health vulnerability, urbanization and COVID-19 in the USA," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 70(1), pages 81-99, February.
    12. 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.
    13. Wang, Huixia & Wang, Chenggang & Halliday, Timothy J., 2018. "Health and health inequality during the great recession: Evidence from the PSID," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 17-30.

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    JEL classification:

    • I0 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General
    • H0 - Public Economics - - General

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