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Inequalities in life expectancy and the global welfare convergence

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  • d’Albis, Hippolyte
  • Bonnet, Florian

Abstract

Becker et al. (2005) maintain that including life expectancy gains in a welfare indicator result in a reduction of inequality between 1960 and 2000 twice as great as when measured by per capita income. We discuss their methodology and show it determines the convergence result. We use an alternative methodology, based on Fleurbaey and Gaulier (2009), which monetizes differences in life expectancy between countries at each date rather than life expectancy gains. We show that including life expectancy has no effect on the evolution of world inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • d’Albis, Hippolyte & Bonnet, Florian, 2018. "Inequalities in life expectancy and the global welfare convergence," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 49-51.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:168:y:2018:i:c:p:49-51
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2018.03.035
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    1. Gary S. Becker & Tomas J. Philipson & Rodrigo R. Soares, 2005. "The Quantity and Quality of Life and the Evolution of World Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 277-291, March.
    2. Charles I. Jones & Peter J. Klenow, 2016. "Beyond GDP? Welfare across Countries and Time," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(9), pages 2426-2457, September.
    3. Marc Fleurbaey & Guillaume Gaulier, 2009. "International Comparisons of Living Standards by Equivalent Incomes," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 111(3), pages 597-624, September.
    4. Menahem E. Yaari, 1965. "Uncertain Lifetime, Life Insurance, and the Theory of the Consumer," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 32(2), pages 137-150.
    5. Barro, Robert J & Friedman, James W, 1977. "On Uncertain Lifetimes," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(4), pages 843-849, August.
    6. Hippolyte d'Albis & Loesse Jacques Esso & Héctor Pifarré I Arolas, 2014. "Persistent Differences in Mortality Patterns across Industrialized Countries," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-01061000, HAL.
    7. repec:hal:pseose:hal-01061000 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

    1. Gallardo Albarrán, Daniel, 2023. "Capital, Productivity, and Human Welfare since 1870," CEPR Discussion Papers 18355, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Hippolyte d’Albis & Ikpidi Badji, 2019. "Intergenerational inequalities in mortality-adjusted disposable incomes," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 17(1), pages 037-069.
    3. Da Costa, Shaun, 2023. "Estimating the welfare gains from anti-retroviral therapy in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    4. Daniel Gallardo-Albarrán, 2024. "Capital, Productivity, and Human Welfare Since 1870," Springer Books, in: Claude Diebolt & Michael Haupert (ed.), Handbook of Cliometrics, edition 3, pages 2023-2048, Springer.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    World inequality; Well-being indicators; Life expectancy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J17 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Value of Life; Foregone Income
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

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