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The Roots of Health Inequality and The Value of Intra-Family Expertise

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  • Yiqun Chen
  • Petra Persson
  • Maria Polyakova

Abstract

Do differences in health literacy contribute to the widely documented health-income gradient? In the context of Sweden, we document a strong relationship between exposure to health-related expertise – captured by the presence of a health professional in the family – and health. Exposure to expertise raises preventive health investments throughout the lifecycle, improves physical health, and prolongs life. Two quasi-experimental research designs – admissions lotteries into medical school and variation in the timing of medical degrees – support a causal interpretation of these effects. We estimate that unequal exposure to health-related expertise may account for up to 18 percent of the population-wide health-income gradient.

Suggested Citation

  • Yiqun Chen & Petra Persson & Maria Polyakova, 2019. "The Roots of Health Inequality and The Value of Intra-Family Expertise," NBER Working Papers 25618, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25618
    Note: AG CH HE PE
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    1. Case, Anne & Lee, Diana & Paxson, Christina, 2008. "The income gradient in children's health: A comment on Currie, Shields and Wheatley Price," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 801-807, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Artmann, Elisabeth & Oosterbeek, Hessel & van der Klaauw, Bas, 2019. "Do doctors improve the health care of their parents? Evidence from admission lotteries," CEPR Discussion Papers 14061, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Prem, M & Bautista, M. A. & González, F & Martínez, L. R. & Muñoz, P, 2020. "Does Higher Education Reduce Mortality? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Chile," Documentos de Trabajo 018486, Universidad del Rosario.
    3. Everding, Jakob, 2019. "Heterogeneous spillover effects of children's education on parental mental health," hche Research Papers 2019/18, University of Hamburg, Hamburg Center for Health Economics (hche).
    4. Werbeck, Anna & Wübker, Ansgar & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2020. "Cream skimming by health care providers and inequality in health care access: Evidence from a randomized field experiment," Ruhr Economic Papers 846, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    5. Persson, Petra & Rossin-Slater, Maya, 2019. "When Dad Can Stay Home: Fathers' Workplace Flexibility and Maternal Health," IZA Discussion Papers 12386, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality

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