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Regional Differences in Socioeconomic Health Inequalities in Spain

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  • García Gómez Pilar

    (POMPEU FABRA UNIVERSITY POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF CARTAGENA)

  • López Nicolás Ángel

    (POMPEU FABRA UNIVERSITY POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF CARTAGENA)

Abstract

This working paper reports an analysis of income related health inequalities at the autonomous community level in Spain using the self assessed health measure in the 2001 edition of the Spanish National Health Survey. We use recently developed methods in order to cardinalise and model self assessed health within a regression framework, decompose the sources of inequality and explain the observed differences across regions. We find that the regions with the highest levels of mean health tend to enjoy the lowest degrees of income related health inequality and vice-versa. The main feature characterizing regions where income related health inequality is low is the absence of a positive gradient between income and health. In turn, the regions where income related health inequality is greater are characterized by a strong and significant positive gradient between health and income. These results suggest that policies aimed at eliminating the gradient between health and income can potentially lead to greater reductions in socioeconomic health inequalities than policies aimed at redistributing income.

Suggested Citation

  • García Gómez Pilar & López Nicolás Ángel, 2007. "Regional Differences in Socioeconomic Health Inequalities in Spain," Working Papers 201072, Fundacion BBVA / BBVA Foundation.
    • Handle: RePEc:fbb:wpaper:201072
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wagstaff, Adam & van Doorslaer, Eddy & Watanabe, Naoko, 2003. "On decomposing the causes of health sector inequalities with an application to malnutrition inequalities in Vietnam," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 207-223, January.
    2. Wagstaff, Adam & van Doorslaer, Eddy & Paci, Pierella, 1989. "Equity in the Finance and Delivery of Health Care: Some Tentative Cross-country Comparisons," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 5(1), pages 89-112, Spring.
    3. van Doorslaer, Eddy & Wagstaff, Adam & Bleichrodt, Han & Calonge, Samuel & Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Gerfin, Michael & Geurts, Jose & Gross, Lorna & Hakkinen, Unto & Leu, Robert E., 1997. "Income-related inequalities in health: some international comparisons," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 93-112, February.
    4. Jaume Puig Junoy & Angel Lopez Nicoĺs, 1995. "Assessing health care infrastructure at the regional level: a statistical approach," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(12), pages 463-466.
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    Cited by:

    1. Pilar García Gómez & Ángel López Nicolás, 2005. "Socio-economic inequalities in health in Catalonia," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 175(4), pages 103-121, december.
    2. Joan Costa Font & Joan Gil Trasfi, 2006. "Socio-Economic Inequalities in Reported Depression in Spain : A Decomposition Approach," Working Papers in Economics 152, Universitat de Barcelona. Espai de Recerca en Economia.
    3. Pilar García Gómez & Angel López Nicolás, 2006. "Health shocks, employment and income in the Spanish labour market," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(9), pages 997-1009, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health inequalities; decomposition analysis; Spain.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

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