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A Methodological Rejoinder to 'Does income relate to health due to psychosocial or material factors?'

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  • Stark, Oded

    (University of Bonn)

  • Jakubek, Marcin

    (Institute of Economics, Polish Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

There is a presumption that when an individual's comparison of his income with the incomes of others in his comparison group yields an unfavorable outcome, the individual is dismayed and experiences stress that impinges negatively on his health. In a recent study, Hounkpatin et al. (2016) conduct an inquiry aimed at deciphering which measure of low relative income reflects better the adverse psychosocial effect of low relative income on health. Hounkpatin et al. pit against each other two indices that they characterize as " competing:" the "relative deprivation (Yitzhaki Index)" of individual i, RDi ; and the "income rank position" of individual i, Ri . In this Rejoinder we show that because a measure of rank is embodied in the RDi index and the Ri index can be elicited from the RDi index, these two indices need not be viewed as competing. Furthermore, we formulate a composite measure of relative deprivation, CRDi , which can be used to assess more fully the psychosocial effect of individual i's low relative income on his health.

Suggested Citation

  • Stark, Oded & Jakubek, Marcin, 2020. "A Methodological Rejoinder to 'Does income relate to health due to psychosocial or material factors?'," IZA Discussion Papers 13232, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13232
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. 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.
    2. Stark, Oded & Budzinski, Wiktor & Jakubek, Marcin, 2019. "Pure rank preferences and variation in risk-taking behavior," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    3. Stark, Oded & Zawojska, Ewa, 2015. "Gender differentiation in risk-taking behavior: On the relative risk aversion of single men and single women," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 83-87.
    4. Pickett, Kate E. & Wilkinson, Richard G., 2015. "Income inequality and health: A causal review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 316-326.
    5. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    the adverse psychosocial effect of low relative income on health; a composite measure of relative deprivation; an index of income rank; an index of relative deprivation; decomposition of the index of relative deprivation into ordinal and cardinal components;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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