Does “Rural” Always Mean the Same? Macrosocial Determinants of Rural Populations’ Health in Poland

Paulina Ucieklak-Jeż and Agnieszka Bem
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Paulina Ucieklak-Jeż: Department of Economics and Finance, Czestochowa, Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa, 42-200 Częstochowa, Poland
Agnieszka Bem: Department of Corporate and Public Finance, Wrocław University of Economics and Business, 53-345 Wrocła, Poland

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 2, 1-17

Abstract: Rural areas, as well as urban ones, are not homogeneous in terms of social and economic conditions. Those surrounding large urban centers (suburban rural areas) act different roles than those located in remote areas. This study aims to measure the level of inequalities in social determinants of health (SDH) between two categories of rural areas. We pose the following research hypotheses: (hypothesis H1) rural areas in Poland are relatively homogenous in the context of SDH and (hypothesis H2) SDH affects life expectancies of rural residents. Based on data covering all rural territories, we found that rural areas in Poland are homogenous in SDH. We also find important determinants of health rooted in a demographic structure—the feminization index and a ratio of the working-age population. On the other hand, we cannot confirm the influence of commonly used SDH-GDP and unemployment rate.

Keywords: rural health inequalities; social determinants of health; concentration analysis; HHI (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:2:p:397-:d:306141

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