Explaining the differences in income‐related health inequalities across European countries
利用1996年欧洲共同体家庭面板数据，通过区间回归测量健康效用并分解不平等来源，发现13个欧盟成员国中收入相关健康不平等普遍存在，葡萄牙、英国和丹麦尤为突出，而荷兰、德国较低；非工作人群的健康与收入地位是解释跨国差异的关键因素。
This paper provides new evidence on the sources of differences in the degree of income-related inequalities in self-assessed health in 13 European Union member states. It goes beyond earlier work by measuring health using an interval regression approach to compute concentration indices and by decomposing inequality into its determining factors. New and more comparable data were used, taken from the 1996 wave of the European Community Household Panel. Significant inequalities in health (utility) favouring the higher income groups emerge in all countries, but are particularly high in Portugal and - to a lesser extent - in the UK and in Denmark. By contrast, relatively low health inequality is observed in the Netherlands and Germany, and also in Italy, Belgium, Spain Austria and Ireland. There is a positive correlation with income inequality per se but the relationship is weaker than in previous research. Health inequality is not merely a reflection of income inequality. A decomposition analysis shows that the (partial) income elasticities of the explanatory variables are generally more important than their unequal distribution by income in explaining the cross-country differences in income-related health inequality. Especially the relative health and income position of non-working Europeans like the retired and disabled explains a great deal of 'excess inequality'. We also find a substantial contribution of regional health disparities to socio-economic inequalities, primarily in the Southern European countries.