Distributionally Sensitive Measurement and Valuation of Population Health

Shaun Da Costa, Owen O'Donnell and Raf Van Gestel
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Shaun Da Costa: Paris School of Economics
Raf Van Gestel: Erasmus University Rotterdam

No 23-017/V, Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers from Tinbergen Institute

Abstract: We introduce a measure of population health that is sensitive to dispersion in both age-specific health and lifespan. The measure generalises health-adjusted life expectancy without requiring more data. A transformation of change in the measure gives a distributionally sensitive monetary valuation of change in population health and disease burden. Application to Sub-Saharan Africa between 1990 and 2019 reveals that the change in population health is sensitive to allowing for lifespan dispersion but is less sensitive to age-specific health dispersion. Distributional sensitivity changes relative burdens of diseases, reduces convergence between the burdens of communicable and non-communicable diseases, and so could influence disease prioritisation. It increases the value of health improvements relative to GDP.

Keywords: Health; Lifespan; Life Expectancy; Inequality; Global Burden of Disease; Sub-Saharan Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I14 I15 J11 J17 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-03-24
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-hea
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tin:wpaper:20230017

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