THE IMPACT OF INCOME SHOCKS ON HEALTH: EVIDENCE FROM COHORT DATA

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Adda, Jerome; Banks, James; von Gaudecker, Hans-Martin
• 署名单位: University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; University College London; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1542-4766
• DOI: 10.1162/JEEA.2009.7.6.1361
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 1361-1399
• 关键词: UNITED-STATES; consumption inequality; socioeconomic-status; mortality; earnings; times; demand; stress; cycle; LIFE

摘要

We study the effect of permanent income innovations on health for a prime-aged population. Using information on more than half a million individuals sampled over a 25-year period in three different cross-sectional surveys we aggregate data by date-of-birth cohort to construct a synthetic cohort data set with details of income, expenditure, socio-demographic factors, health outcomes, and selected risk factors. We then exploit structural and arguably exogenous changes in cohort incomes over the 1980s and 1990s to uncover causal effects of permanent income shocks on health. We find that such income innovations have little effect on a wide range of health measures, but do lead to increases in mortality and risky health behaviour. (JEL: I10, D31)