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Internationally comparable health indices

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  • Erik Meijer
  • Arie Kapteyn
  • Tatiana Andreyeva

Abstract

One of the most intractable problems in international health research is the lack of comparability of health measures across countries or cultures. We develop a cross‐country measurement model for health, in which functional limitations, self‐reports of health, and a physical measure are interrelated to construct health indices. To establish comparability across countries, we define the measurement scales by the physical measure while other parameters vary by country to reflect cultural and linguistic differences in response patterns. We find significant cross‐country variation in response styles of health reports along with variability in genuine health that is related to differences in national income. Our health indices achieve satisfactory reliability of about 80% and their gradients by age, income, and wealth for the most part show the expected patterns. Moreover, the health indices correlate much more strongly with income and net worth than self‐reported health measures. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Erik Meijer & Arie Kapteyn & Tatiana Andreyeva, 2011. "Internationally comparable health indices," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(5), pages 600-619, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:20:y:2011:i:5:p:600-619
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.1620
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    4. Anneke Exterkate & Robin L. Lumsdaine, 2011. "How Survey Design Affects Inference Regarding Health Perceptions and Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 17244, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Juergen Jung, 2022. "Estimating transition probabilities between health states using US longitudinal survey data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(2), pages 901-943, August.
    6. Steven F. Venti, 2014. "Comment on "A Comparison of Different Measures of Health and their Relation to Labor Force Transitions at Older Ages"," NBER Chapters, in: Discoveries in the Economics of Aging, pages 151-156, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Lumsdaine, Robin L. & Exterkate, Anneke, 2013. "How survey design affects self-assessed health responses in the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 299-307.
    8. Riumallo-Herl, Carlos & Canning, David & Kabudula, Chodziwadziwa, 2019. "Health inequalities in the South African elderly: The importance of the measure of social-economic status," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).
    9. Wifo, 2015. "WIFO-Monatsberichte, Heft 8/2015," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 88(8), August.
    10. McGovern, Mark E., 2014. "Comparing the relationship between stature and later life health in six low and middle income countries," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 4(C), pages 128-148.
    11. Titus J. Galama & Patrick Hullegie & Erik Meijer & Sarah Outcault, 2012. "Is There Empirical Evidence For Decreasing Returns To Scale In A Health Capital Model?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(9), pages 1080-1100, September.
    12. Galama, T. & Hullegie, P. & Meijer, E. & Outcault, S., 2012. "Empirical evidence for decreasing returns to scale in a health capital model," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 12/05, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    13. Chiara Dal Bianco, 2023. "Disability Insurance and the Effects of Return-to-work Policies," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 49, pages 351-373, July.
    14. Manuel Flores & Adriaan Kalwij, 2019. "What Do Wages Add to the Health‐Employment Nexus? Evidence from Older European Workers," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 81(1), pages 123-145, February.
    15. Arie Kapteyn & Erik Meijer, 2014. "A Comparison of Different Measures of Health and their Relation to Labor Force Transitions at Older Ages," NBER Chapters, in: Discoveries in the Economics of Aging, pages 115-150, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Thomas Leoni, 2015. "Soziale Unterschiede in Gesundheit und Inanspruchnahme der Gesundheitsversorgung," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 88(8), pages 649-662, August.
    17. Manuel Flores & Melchor Fernández & Yolanda Pena-Boquete, 2020. "The impact of health on wages: evidence from Europe before and during the Great Recession," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 72(2), pages 319-346.
    18. Paul Frijters & David W. Johnston & Michael A. Shields, 2014. "The Effect Of Mental Health On Employment: Evidence From Australian Panel Data," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(9), pages 1058-1071, September.
    19. Michael Grossman, 2022. "The demand for health turns 50: Reflections," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(9), pages 1807-1822, September.
    20. Alan A Cohen & Qing Li & Emmanuel Milot & Maxime Leroux & Samuel Faucher & Vincent Morissette-Thomas & Véronique Legault & Linda P Fried & Luigi Ferrucci, 2015. "Statistical Distance as a Measure of Physiological Dysregulation Is Largely Robust to Variation in Its Biomarker Composition," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-25, April.
    21. Riumallo Herl, Carlos & Kabudula, Chodziwadziwa & Kahn, Kathleen & Tollman, Stephen & Canning, David, 2022. "Pension exposure and health: Evidence from a longitudinal study in South Africa," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).

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