Explaining the atomistic versus ecological fallacies in SES-health gradients

William Parker and Johannes Spinnewijn

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: A large literature in economics and public health studies the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and health, often relying on area-based measures when individual data are unavailable. Using comprehensive Dutch administrative data, we examine how data aggregation shapes estimated income-health gradients through ecological and atomistic biases. Individual and area income capture distinct but correlated channels, such as personal resources and local conditions. Spatial aggregation reduces variation and attenuates nonlinearities, leading area-level estimates to overstate gradients and reduce robustness to controls. Interaction analyses reveal unequal exposure: Health of low-income households appears substantially more sensitive to neighborhood conditions than that of high-income households.

JEL-codes: D31 I12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 6 pages
Date: 2026-05-01
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Published in AEA Papers and Proceedings, 1, May, 2026, 116, pp. 150 - 155. ISSN: 2574-0768

Downloads: (external link)
https://researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/138666/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:138666

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library LSE Library Portugal Street London, WC2A 2HD, U.K.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by LSERO Manager ().