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The Evolution of Health over the Life Cycle

Author

Listed:
  • Roozbeh Hosseini

    (University of Georgia)

  • Karen A. Kopecky

    (Emory University)

  • Kai Zhao

    (University of Connecticut)

Abstract

We construct a unified objective measure of health status: the frailty index, de ned as the cumulative sum of all adverse health indicators observed for an individual. First, we show that the frailty index has several advantages over self-reported health status, particularly when studying health dynamics. Then we estimate a stochastic process for frailty dynamics over the life cycle. We nd that the autocovariance structure of frailty in panel data strongly supports a process that allows the conditional variance of frailty shocks to increase with age. Our frailty measure and dynamic process can be used by researchers to study the evolution of health over the life cycle and its economic implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Roozbeh Hosseini & Karen A. Kopecky & Kai Zhao, 2019. "The Evolution of Health over the Life Cycle," Working papers 2019-11, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:uct:uconnp:2019-11
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    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

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