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

Yiqun Chen, Petra Persson and Maria Polyakova

No 25618, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

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.

JEL-codes: D12 D83 G22 H1 H4 I13 I14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur and nep-hea
Note: AG CH EH PE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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Working Paper: The Roots of Health Inequality and the Value of Intra-Family Expertise (2019)
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