Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, Waseda University, 1-6-1 Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8050, Japan.
J Health Econ. 2013 Mar;32(2):367-85. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2012.11.007. Epub 2012 Dec 10.
We examine the role of information in understanding the differential effects of income on the demand for health. In the health capital framework of Grossman (JPE, 1972), we derive the testable hypotheses that individuals adjust their diet in a healthier direction upon receiving negative health information, and that the effect is greater for richer individuals. Based on unique Chinese longitudinal data and a regression discontinuity design that exploits the exogenous cutoff of systolic blood pressure in the diagnosis of hypertension, we find that, upon receiving hypertension diagnosis, individuals reduce fat intake significantly, and richer individuals reduce more. Our results also indicate that among the rich, hypertension diagnosis is more effective for individuals with lower education.
我们研究了信息在理解收入对健康需求的差异化影响方面的作用。在 Grossman（JPE，1972）的健康资本框架中，我们推导出了可检验的假设，即个体在收到负面健康信息时会调整饮食，使其更健康，而这种影响在富人中更大。基于中国独特的纵向数据和利用高血压诊断中收缩压的外生截止值的回归不连续性设计，我们发现，在收到高血压诊断后，个体显著减少了脂肪摄入，而富人减少的更多。我们的结果还表明，在富人中，高血压诊断对受教育程度较低的个体更有效。
