Measuring health inequality with categorical data: some regional patterns

Costa-i-Font, Joan ORCID: 0000-0001-7174-7919 and Cowell, Frank ORCID: 0000-0002-3778-2152 (2013) Measuring health inequality with categorical data: some regional patterns. CESifo working paper (4427). CESifo Group, Munich, Germany.

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Abstract

Much of the theoretical literature on inequality assumes that the equalisand is a cardinal variable like income or wealth. However, health status is generally measured as a categorical variable expressing a qualitative order. Traditional solutions involve reclassifying the variable by means of qualitative models and relying on inequality measures that are mean independent. We argue that the way status is conceptualized has important theoretical implications for measurement as well as for policy analysis. We also bring to the data a recently proposed approach to measuring self-reported health inequality that meets both rigorous and practical considerations. We draw upon the World Health Survey data to examine alternative pragmatic methods for making health inequality comparisons. Findings suggest significant differences in health inequality measurement and that regional and country patterns of inequality orderings do not coincide with any reasonable categorization of countries by health system organization.

Item Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Official URL:	http://www.cesifo-group.de/portal/page/portal/ifoH...
Additional Information:	© 2013 The Authors
Divisions:	Economics European Institute Social Policy Centre for Economic Performance STICERD Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion LSE Health
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
JEL classification:	D - Microeconomics > D6 - Welfare Economics > D63 - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement H - Public Economics > H2 - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue > H23 - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I18 - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
Date Deposited:	12 Nov 2013 15:35
Last Modified:	11 Dec 2024 19:11
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/54283

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