Inequality and Mortality: Long-Run Evidence from a Panel of Countries
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Leigh, Andrew; Jencks, Christopher
Description
We investigate whether changes in economic inequality affect mortality in rich countries. To answer this question we use a new source of data on income inequality: tax data on the share of pretax income going to the richest 10 percent of the population in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US between 1903 and 2003. Although this measure is not a good proxy for inequality within the bottom half of the income...[Show more]
dc.contributor.author | Leigh, Andrew | |
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dc.contributor.author | Jencks, Christopher | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2007-06-18T03:44:00Z | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2011-01-05T08:39:02Z | |
dc.date.available | 2007-06-18T03:44:00Z | |
dc.date.available | 2011-01-05T08:39:02Z | |
dc.date.created | 2006-08 | |
dc.identifier.isbn | 1 921262 05 2 | |
dc.identifier.issn | 1442-8636 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1885/45253 | |
dc.description.abstract | We investigate whether changes in economic inequality affect mortality in rich countries. To answer this question we use a new source of data on income inequality: tax data on the share of pretax income going to the richest 10 percent of the population in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US between 1903 and 2003. Although this measure is not a good proxy for inequality within the bottom half of the income distribution, it is a good proxy for changes in the top half of the distribution and for the Gini coefficient. In the absence of country and year fixed effects, the income share of the top decile is negatively related to life expectancy and positively related to infant mortality. However, in our preferred fixed-effects specification these relationships are weak, statistically insignificant, and likely to change their sign. Nor do our data suggest that changes in the income share of the richest 10 percent affect homicide or suicide rates. | |
dc.language.iso | ja | |
dc.publisher | Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University | |
dc.relation.ispartofseries | Discussion Paper no.533 | |
dc.source | Journal of Health Economics | |
dc.subject | health | |
dc.subject | inequality | |
dc.subject | mortality | |
dc.subject | top incomes | |
dc.subject | homicide | |
dc.subject | suicide | |
dc.title | Inequality and Mortality: Long-Run Evidence from a Panel of Countries | |
dc.type | Working/Technical Paper | |
local.description.refereed | yes | |
local.identifier.citationvolume | 26 | |
local.rights.ispublished | yes | |
dc.date.issued | 2006-08 | |
local.identifier.absfor | 140208 - Health Economics | |
local.identifier.ariespublication | u8609048xPUB3 | |
local.type.status | Published version | |
local.contributor.affiliation | CEPR, RSSS | |
local.contributor.affiliation | ANU | |
local.bibliographicCitation.issue | 1 | |
local.bibliographicCitation.startpage | 1 | |
local.bibliographicCitation.lastpage | 24 | |
local.identifier.doi | 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2006.07.003 | |
dc.date.updated | 2015-12-08T02:46:47Z | |
local.identifier.scopusID | 2-s2.0-33845465561 | |
dcterms.accessRights | Open Access | |
Collections | ANU Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) |
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