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Why are older informal carers in better health? Solving a causality problem

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  • Andrej Srakar

    (Institute for Economic Research / University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics, Ljubljana, Slovenia)

  • Mateja Nagode

    (Social Protection Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia)

Abstract

Informal care is a widespread and important segment of long-term care, which is carried out independently of or in parallel with formal care, i.e. as a complement or replacement. Informal caregivers represent the backbone of long-term care, as has been witnessed by numerous international studies. In our article we focus on the relationship between the health status of the respondent and the decision to provide informal help to others as well as the intensity of the care. We show that this relationship is endogenous (reverse causality), using different measures of health and instrumental variables from Wave 5 and Wave 3 of SHARE Survey, and determine the causal effects of health on informal care, provided within and/or outside household. We also model the effect of various different covariates on informal caregiving. In conclusion we provide reflections on the research and discuss the policy relevance of the study.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrej Srakar & Mateja Nagode, 2018. "Why are older informal carers in better health? Solving a causality problem," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 42(3), pages 303-323.
    • Handle: RePEc:ipf:psejou:v:42:y:2018:i:3:p:303-323
    DOI: 10.3326/pse.42.3.4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bauer, Jan Michael & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2015. "Impacts of Informal Caregiving on Caregiver Employment, Health, and Family," IZA Discussion Papers 8851, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Brenda Gannon & Bérengère Davin, 2010. "Use of formal and informal care services among older people in Ireland and France," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 11(5), pages 499-511, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Calvó-Perxas, Laia & Vilalta-Franch, Joan & Litwin, Howard & Mira, Pedro & Garre-Olmo, Josep, 2021. "A longitudinal study on public policy and the health of in-house caregivers in Europe," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(4), pages 436-441.
    2. Fátima Barbosa & Sara Simões Dias & Gina Voss & Alice Delerue Matos, 2023. "The Longitudinal Association between Co-Residential Care Provision and Healthcare Use among the Portuguese Population Aged 50 and Over: A SHARE Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-14, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    informal care; caregivers; health; reverse causality; instrumental variables; SHARE;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models
    • C36 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation

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