IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v256y2020ics0277953620302653.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic growth, income inequality and life expectancy in China

Author

Listed:
  • Luo, Weixiang
  • Xie, Yu

Abstract

China had made dramatic health gains before its economic reform that began in 1978 produced rapid economic growth in the ensuing years. Since the economic reform, China's income inequality has substantially increased, and health gains have stagnated. This article investigates the extent to which China's health stagnation may be attributable to the rise in income inequality in China. By simulating the improvement in life expectancy that could have resulted if, ceteris paribus, income inequality had stayed constant at the lowest level after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, we find that the sharply increasing income inequality in China has contributed to life loss in China's population, about 0.6 years for men and 0.4 years for women. These findings suggest that redistribution of income from rich to poor may be one of the most important policy levers for improving population health in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Luo, Weixiang & Xie, Yu, 2020. "Economic growth, income inequality and life expectancy in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:256:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620302653
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113046
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953620302653
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113046?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bakkeli, Nan Zou, 2016. "Income inequality and health in China: A panel data analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 39-47.
    2. Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Johannesson, Magnus, 2000. "Income-related inequality in life-years and quality-adjusted life-years," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 1007-1026, November.
    3. Mikael Lindahl, 2005. "Estimating the Effect of Income on Health and Mortality Using Lottery Prizes as an Exogenous Source of Variation in Income," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(1).
    4. Ulf-G. Gerdtham & Magnus Johannesson, 2004. "Absolute Income, Relative Income, Income Inequality, and Mortality," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 39(1).
    5. Angus Deaton, 2003. "Health, Inequality, and Economic Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 41(1), pages 113-158, March.
    6. Baldwin, Kate & Huber, John D., 2010. "Economic versus Cultural Differences: Forms of Ethnic Diversity and Public Goods Provision," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 104(4), pages 644-662, November.
    7. Li, Hongbin & Zhu, Yi, 2006. "Income, income inequality, and health: Evidence from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 668-693, December.
    8. Christine Eibner & William N. Evans, 2005. "Relative Deprivation, Poor Health Habits, and Mortality," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(3).
    9. Undurraga, Eduardo A. & Behrman, Jere R. & Leonard, William R. & Godoy, Ricardo A., 2016. "The effects of community income inequality on health: Evidence from a randomized control trial in the Bolivian Amazon," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 66-75.
    10. Wilkinson, Richard G & Pickett, Kate E., 2006. "Income inequality and population health: A review and explanation of the evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(7), pages 1768-1784, April.
    11. Detollenaere, Jens & Desmarest, Ann-Sophie & Boeckxstaens, Pauline & Willems, Sara, 2018. "The link between income inequality and health in Europe, adding strength dimensions of primary care to the equation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 103-110.
    12. Bergh, Andreas & Nilsson, Therese, 2010. "Good for Living? On the Relationship between Globalization and Life Expectancy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(9), pages 1191-1203, September.
    13. Elgar, F.J., 2010. "Income inequality, trust, and population health in 33 countries," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(11), pages 2311-2315.
    14. Mishra, Sandeep & Carleton, R. Nicholas, 2015. "Subjective relative deprivation is associated with poorer physical and mental health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 144-149.
    15. Kawachi, I. & Kennedy, B.P. & Lochner, K. & Prothrow-Stith, D., 1997. "Social capital, income inequality, and mortality," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 87(9), pages 1491-1498.
    16. Feng, Zhixin & Wang, Wenfei Winnie & Jones, Kelvyn & Li, Yaqing, 2012. "An exploratory multilevel analysis of income, income inequality and self-rated health of the elderly in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2481-2492.
    17. Aida, Jun & Kondo, Katsunori & Kondo, Naoki & Watt, Richard G. & Sheiham, Aubrey & Tsakos, Georgios, 2011. "Income inequality, social capital and self-rated health and dental status in older Japanese," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(10), pages 1561-1568.
    18. Avraham Ebenstein & Maoyong Fan & Michael Greenstone & Guojun He & Peng Yin & Maigeng Zhou, 2015. "Growth, Pollution, and Life Expectancy: China from 1991-2012," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 226-231, May.
    19. World Bank, 2014. "World Development Indicators 2014," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 18237.
    20. Kimberly Singer Babiarz & Karen Eggleston & Grant Miller & Qiong Zhang, 2015. "An exploration of China's mortality decline under Mao: A provincial analysis, 1950-80," Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 69(1), pages 39-56, March.
    21. Thomas Mayrhofer & Hendrik Schmitz, 2014. "Testing the relationship between income inequality and life expectancy: a simple correction for the aggregation effect when using aggregated data," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(3), pages 841-856, July.
    22. Adjaye-Gbewonyo, Kafui & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2012. "Use of the Yitzhaki Index as a test of relative deprivation for health outcomes: A review of recent literature," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 129-137.
    23. John Knight, 2014. "Inequality in China: An Overview," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 29(1), pages 1-19.
    24. Pearce, N. & Davey Smith, G., 2003. "Is social capital the key to inequalities in health?," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(1), pages 122-129.
    25. Roberta Torre & Mikko Myrskylä, 2014. "Income inequality and population health: An analysis of panel data for 21 developed countries, 1975-2006," Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 68(1), pages 1-13, March.
    26. James P. Smith, 1999. "Healthy Bodies and Thick Wallets: The Dual Relation between Health and Economic Status," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 145-166, Spring.
    27. Kondo, Naoki & Kawachi, Ichiro & Subramanian, S.V. & Takeda, Yasuhisa & Yamagata, Zentaro, 2008. "Do social comparisons explain the association between income inequality and health?: Relative deprivation and perceived health among male and female Japanese individuals," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(6), pages 982-987, September.
    28. Pickett, Kate E. & Wilkinson, Richard G., 2015. "Income inequality and health: A causal review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 316-326.
    29. Matsubayashi, Tetsuya & Ueda, Michiko, 2011. "The effect of national suicide prevention programs on suicide rates in 21 OECD nations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(9), pages 1395-1400.
    30. Frederick Solt, 2016. "The Standardized World Income Inequality Database," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 97(5), pages 1267-1281, November.
    31. Jones, Andrew M. & Wildman, John, 2008. "Health, income and relative deprivation: Evidence from the BHPS," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 308-324, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tajul Masron & Mduduzi Biyase & Talent Zwane & Thomas Udimal & Frederich Kirsten, 2023. "Ecological footprint and population health outcomes: an analysis of E7 countries," Economics Working Papers edwrg-07-2023, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, revised 2023.
    2. Mduduzi Biyase & Tajul Ariffin Masron & Talent Zwane & Thomas Bilaliib Udimal & Frederich Kirsten, 2023. "Ecological Footprint and Population Health Outcomes: Evidence from E7 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-18, May.
    3. Yanyang Yan & Juan Wang & Sijia Qiao, 2022. "Effects of Industrial Policy on Firms’ Innovation Outputs: Evidence From China," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(3), pages 21582440221, September.
    4. Jinlong Wang & Ling Yang & Min Deng & Gui Zhang & Yaoqi Zhang, 2023. "Selection of optimal regulation scheme by simulating spatial network of ecological-economic-social compound system: a case study of Hunan province, China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 2831-2856, March.
    5. Yuan-Ho Hsu & Hiroshi Yoshida & Fengming Chen, 2022. "The Impacts of Population Aging on China’s Economy," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 14(1), pages 105-130, January.
    6. Mohammad Mafizur Rahman & Rezwanul Rana & Rasheda Khanam, 2022. "Determinants of life expectancy in most polluted countries: Exploring the effect of environmental degradation," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(1), pages 1-16, January.
    7. Hong Zou & Qianqian Xiong & Hongwei Xu, 2020. "Does Subjective Social Status Predict Self-Rated Health in Chinese Adults and Why?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 443-471, November.
    8. Hajamini, Mehdi, 2020. "Analyzing the Causal Relationships between Economic Growth, Income Inequality, and Transmission Channels: New Empirical Evidences from Iran," Journal of Money and Economy, Monetary and Banking Research Institute, Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, vol. 15(3), pages 313-342, July.
    9. Hui Tang & Yun Chen & Rongjun Ao & Xue Shen & Guoning Shi, 2022. "Spatial–Temporal Characteristics and Driving Factors of the Coupling Coordination between Population Health and Economic Development in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-17, August.
    10. Zhenhua Zheng & Wanting Liu & Liu Yang & Ning Sun & Yingchen Lu & Hong Chen, 2022. "Group Differences: The Relationship between Social Media Use and Depression during the Outbreak of COVID-19 in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-15, October.
    11. Sri Hasnawati & Mustofa Usman & Ahmad Faisol & Faiz A. M. Elfaki, 2023. "Analysis and Modeling Gross Domestic Product, Carbon Dioxide Emission, Population Growth, and Life Expectancy at Birth: Case Study in Qatar," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(2), pages 467-483, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Owen O'Donnell & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Tom Van Ourti, 2013. "Health and Inequality," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-170/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    2. Kang, Songman & Son, Hyelim & Song, B.K., 2023. "The effect of housing price inequality on mental health," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    3. Chee Hon Chan & Ho Kit Wong & Paul Siu Fai Yip, 2017. "Associations of relative income deprivation with perceived happiness and self-rated health among the Hong Kong Chinese population," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 62(6), pages 697-707, July.
    4. Maite Blázquez & Elena Cottini & Ainhoa Herrarte, 2014. "The socioeconomic gradient in health: how important is material deprivation?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 12(2), pages 239-264, June.
    5. Grönqvist, Hans & Johansson, Per & Niknami, Susan, 2012. "Income inequality and health: Lessons from a refugee residential assignment program," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 617-629.
    6. Mishra, Sandeep & Carleton, R. Nicholas, 2015. "Subjective relative deprivation is associated with poorer physical and mental health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 144-149.
    7. Karlsson, Martin & Nilsson, Therese & Lyttkens, Carl Hampus & Leeson, George, 2010. "Income inequality and health: Importance of a cross-country perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 875-885, March.
    8. Sun, Yu & You, Wen, 2016. "Relative-deprivation effects on child health in China," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235926, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Zheng, Hui & George, Linda K., 2012. "Rising U.S. income inequality and the changing gradient of socioeconomic status on physical functioning and activity limitations, 1984–2007," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2170-2182.
    10. Hounkpatin, Hilda Osafo & Wood, Alex M. & Dunn, Graham, 2016. "Does income relate to health due to psychosocial or material factors? Consistent support for the psychosocial hypothesis requires operationalization with income rank not the Yitzhaki Index," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 76-84.
    11. Cheng, Lingguo & Liu, Hong & Zhang, Ye & Zhao, Zhong, 2018. "The health implications of social pensions: Evidence from China's new rural pension scheme," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 53-77.
    12. Pickett, Kate E. & Wilkinson, Richard G., 2015. "Income inequality and health: A causal review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 316-326.
    13. Stark, Oded, 2021. "Why reducing relative deprivation but not reducing income inequality might bring down COVID-19 infections," Journal of Government and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(C).
    14. Gerdtham, Ulf-G & Lundborg, Petter & Lyttkens, Carl Hampus & Nystedt, Paul, 2012. "Do Socioeconomic Factors Really Explain Income-Related Inequalities in Health? Applying a Twin Design to Standard Decomposition Analysis," Working Papers 2012:21, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    15. Miething, Alexander, 2013. "A matter of perception: Exploring the role of income satisfaction in the income–mortality relationship in German survey data 1995–2010," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 72-79.
    16. Loree, Jacob, 2015. "State Level Income Inequality and Individual Self-Reported Health Status: Evidence from the United States," MPRA Paper 72638, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Tommy Haugan & Sally Muggleton & Arnhild Myhr, 2021. "Psychological distress in late adolescence: The role of inequalities in family affluence and municipal socioeconomic characteristics in Norway," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(7), pages 1-25, July.
    18. Li, Hongbin & Zhu, Yi, 2006. "Income, income inequality, and health: Evidence from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 668-693, December.
    19. Pham-Kanter, Genevieve, 2009. "Social comparisons and health: Can having richer friends and neighbors make you sick?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 335-344, August.
    20. Cristina Blanco-Perez, 2012. "Rethinking the Relative Income Hypothesis," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 501, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:256:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620302653. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.