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Income Inequality and Individual Health Status: Evidence from India

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  • Sohini Paul

    (Population Council, India Habitat Centre)

Abstract

India has experienced a significant increase in income inequality in the past decade. It is widely accepted in the literature that income inequality is detrimental to individual health. Against this backdrop, the objective of the paper is to analyze the effect of income inequality on individual health status in the Indian context. We have examined two aspects: the impact of inequality on society in general and whether the effect of inequality is harsher on the poor as compared to the rich. We tested the income inequality hypothesis to answer the research questions. Using two rounds of India Human Development Survey data, a large-scale, nationally representative, panel data set collected in 2004–05 and 2011–12, we found a negative association between income inequality and individual health. Moreover, the poor are found to be the worst sufferers of income inequality and are more sensitive to ill health.

Suggested Citation

  • Sohini Paul, 2021. "Income Inequality and Individual Health Status: Evidence from India," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 19(2), pages 269-289, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jqecon:v:19:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s40953-020-00223-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s40953-020-00223-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Jennifer M. Mellor & Jeffrey Milyo, 2002. "Income Inequality and Health Status in the United States: Evidence from the Current Population Survey," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 37(3), pages 510-539.
    7. 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.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Baoxi Li & De Xiao, 2021. "The Impact of Income Inequality on Subjective Environmental Pollution: Individual Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-26, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality; Income; Individual health; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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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