Murasko Jason E
School of Business, University of Houston-Clear Lake, 2700 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, TX 77058, United States.
J Health Econ. 2008 Dec;27(6):1489-502. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2008.07.012. Epub 2008 Aug 6.
Previous work has shown that the income gradient in child health for the United States becomes steeper with age. This paper shows a similar pattern using the 1996-2005 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys (MEPS). A framework is also presented to evaluate cumulative and contemporaneous income effects through the use of baseline health controls. The analysis shows that poor health is more persistent in older children, and that the income gradient is substantially flattened over age groups when controlling for baseline health. However, even when controlling for baseline health, there remains a stronger effect from income on the health of adolescents. These results may reflect a cumulative effect from income that explains much of the strengthening association between income and health before adolescence, with a remaining stronger contemporaneous association in that age group. The analysis is unable to identify a major role of chronic conditions or injuries in these relationships.
先前的研究表明，美国儿童健康方面的收入梯度会随着年龄增长而变得更陡。本文利用1996 - 2005年医疗支出面板调查（MEPS）展示了类似的模式。还提出了一个框架，通过使用基线健康控制来评估累积和同期收入效应。分析表明，健康状况不佳在大龄儿童中更具持续性，并且在控制基线健康状况时，收入梯度在不同年龄组中大幅变平。然而，即使控制了基线健康状况，收入对青少年健康的影响仍然更强。这些结果可能反映了收入的累积效应，这解释了青春期前收入与健康之间关联增强的大部分原因，而在该年龄组中同期关联仍然更强。该分析无法确定慢性病或损伤在这些关系中的主要作用。
