Galama Titus J, van Kippersluis Hans
University of Southern California, Dornsife College Center for Economic and Social Research, Los Angeles, USA ; RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, USA.
Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands ; Tinbergen Institute, The Netherlands.
Res Econ Inequal. 2013 Jun;21:263-284. doi: 10.1108/S1049-2585(2013)0000021013.
We explore what health-capital theory has to offer in terms of informing and directing research into health inequality. We argue that economic theory can help in identifying mechanisms through which specific socioeconomic indicators and health interact. Our reading of the literature, and our own work, leads us to conclude that non-degenerate versions of the Grossman model (1972a;b) and its extensions can explain many salient stylized facts on health inequalities. Yet, further development is required in at least two directions. First, a childhood phase needs to be incorporated, in recognition of the importance of childhood endowments and investments in the determination of later-life socioeconomic and health outcomes. Second, a unified theory of joint investment in skill (or human) capital and in health capital could provide a basis for a theory of the relationship between education and health.
我们探讨健康资本理论在为健康不平等研究提供信息和指导方面能发挥什么作用。我们认为，经济理论有助于识别特定社会经济指标与健康相互作用的机制。我们对文献的研读以及我们自己的研究工作使我们得出结论，格罗斯曼模型（1972a；b）及其扩展模型的非退化版本能够解释许多关于健康不平等的显著典型事实。然而，至少在两个方向上仍需要进一步发展。首先，需要纳入儿童期阶段，以认识到儿童期禀赋和投资在决定成年后的社会经济和健康结果方面的重要性。其次，关于技能（或人力）资本与健康资本联合投资的统一理论可以为教育与健康之间关系的理论提供基础。
