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Aversion to health inequality — Pure, income-related and income-caused

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  • Robson, Matthew
  • O’Donnell, Owen
  • Van Ourti, Tom

Abstract

We design a novel experiment to identify aversion to pure (univariate) health inequality separately from aversion to income-related and income-caused health inequality. Participants allocate resources to determine health of individuals. Identification comes from random variation in resource productivity and information on income and its causal effect. We gather data (26,286 observations) from a sample of UK adults (n = 337) and estimate pooled and participant-specific social preferences while accounting for noise. The median person has strong aversion to pure health inequality, challenging the health maximisation objective of economic evaluation. Aversion to health inequality is even stronger when it is related to income. However, the median person prioritises health of poorer individuals less than is assumed in the standard measure of income-related health inequality. On average, aversion to that inequality does not become stronger when low income is known to cause ill-health. There is substantial heterogeneity in all three types of inequality aversion.

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  • Robson, Matthew & O’Donnell, Owen & Van Ourti, Tom, 2024. "Aversion to health inequality — Pure, income-related and income-caused," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:94:y:2024:i:c:s0167629624000018
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2024.102856
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    Cited by:

    1. Hansen, Kristian S. & Moreno-Ternero, Juan D. & Østerdal, Lars P., 2023. "Productivity and quality-adjusted life years: QALYs, PALYs and beyond," Working Papers 11-2023, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics.
    2. Hansen, Kristian S. & Moreno-Ternero, Juan D. & Østerdal, Lars P., 2024. "Quality- and productivity-adjusted life years: From QALYs to PALYs and beyond," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    3. Bavafa, Hessam & Mukherjee, Anita & Welch, Tyler Q., 2023. "Inequality in the golden years: Wealth gradients in disability-free and work-free longevity in the United States," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality aversion; Social preferences; Health; Income; Experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General
    • D30 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - General
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality

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