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Wealth and health behavior: Testing the concept of a health cost

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  • van Kippersluis, Hans
  • Galama, Titus J.

Abstract

Wealthier individuals engage in healthier behavior. This paper seeks to explain this phenomenon by exploiting both inheritances and lottery winnings to test a theory of health behavior. We distinguish between the direct monetary cost and the indirect health cost (value of health lost) of unhealthy consumption. The health cost increases with wealth and the degree of unhealthiness, leading wealthier individuals to consume more healthy and moderately unhealthy, but fewer severely unhealthy goods. The empirical evidence presented suggests that differences in health costs may indeed partially explain behavioral differences, and ultimately health outcomes, between wealth groups.

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  • van Kippersluis, Hans & Galama, Titus J., 2014. "Wealth and health behavior: Testing the concept of a health cost," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 197-220.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:72:y:2014:i:c:p:197-220
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2014.10.003
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    4. Titus J Galama & Hans van Kippersluis, 2019. "A Theory of Socio-economic Disparities in Health over the Life Cycle," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(617), pages 338-374.
    5. Yihong Bai & Michel Grignon, 2024. "Why do drinkers earn more? Job characteristics as a possible link," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(6), pages 1133-1152, June.
    6. Strulik, Holger, 2018. "The return to education in terms of wealth and health," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 1-14.
    7. Kornelia Piech, 2022. "Health Care Financing and Economic Performance during the Coronavirus Pandemic, the War in Ukraine and the Energy Transition Attempt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-23, August.
    8. Strulik, Holger, 2015. "A Closed-Form Solution For The Health Capital Model," Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(3), pages 301-316, September.
    9. Martins, Igor & Cilliers, Jeanne & Fourie, Johan, 2019. "Legacies of Loss: The intergenerational outcomes of slaveholder compensation in the British Cape Colony," Lund Papers in Economic History 197, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    10. Atalay, Kadir & Edwards, Rebecca & Liu, Betty Y.J., 2017. "Effects of house prices on health: New evidence from Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 36-48.
    11. Julien Albertini & Anthony Terriau, 2019. "Wealth and health in South Africa," Working Papers halshs-02073800, HAL.
    12. Muchomba, Felix M., 2021. "Parents’ assets and child marriage: Are mother’s assets more protective than father’s assets?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    13. Bénédicte Apouey & Isabelle Chort, 2018. "Are rising house prices really good for your brain? House value and cognitive functioning among older Europeans," Working Papers hal-02141060, HAL.
    14. Titus J. Galama & Adriana Lleras-Muney & Hans van Kippersluis, 2018. "The Effect of Education on Health and Mortality: A Review of Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Evidence," NBER Working Papers 24225, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Seonghoon Kim & Kanghyock Koh, 2020. "Does Early Access To Pension Wealth Improve Health?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(4), pages 1783-1794, October.
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    17. Kim, Seonghoon & Koh, Kanghyock, 2021. "The effects of income on health: Evidence from lottery wins in Singapore," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    18. Seonghoon Kim & Andrew J. Oswald, 2021. "Happy Lottery Winners and Lottery‐Ticket Bias," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 67(2), pages 317-333, June.
    19. James Broughel & W. Kip Viscusi, 2021. "The Mortality Cost Of Expenditures," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(1), pages 156-167, January.
    20. Oscar Erixson, 2017. "Health responses to a wealth shock: evidence from a Swedish tax reform," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(4), pages 1281-1336, October.
    21. Bénédicte Apouey & Isabelle Chort, 2018. "Are rising house prices really good for your brain? House value and cognitive functioning among older Europeans," Working Papers hal-02141060, HAL.
    22. Silvia H. Barcellos & Leandro S. Carvalho & Patrick Turley, 2019. "Distributional Effects of Education on Health," NBER Working Papers 25898, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Rui Zhang & Chenglei Zhang & Jiahui Xia & Dawei Feng & Shaoyong Wu, 2022. "Household Wealth and Individuals’ Mental Health: Evidence from the 2012–2018 China Family Panel Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-18, September.
    24. Lleras-Muney, Adriana & Price, Joseph & Yue, Dahai, 2022. "The association between educational attainment and longevity using individual-level data from the 1940 census," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    25. Isabelle CHORT & Bénédicte APOUEY, 2018. "Are rising house prices really good for your brain? House value and cognitive functioning among older Europeans," Working Papers 2017-2018_7, CATT - UPPA - Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, revised Oct 2018.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health behavior; Wealth; Health capital; Unhealthy consumption;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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