Working Paper: NBER ID: w25618
Authors: Yiqun Chen; Petra Persson; Maria Polyakova
Abstract: Do differences in health literacy contribute to the widely documented health-income gradient? In the context of Sweden, we document a strong relationship between exposure to health-related expertise – captured by the presence of a health professional in the family – and health. Exposure to expertise raises preventive health investments throughout the lifecycle, improves physical health, and prolongs life. Two quasi-experimental research designs – admissions lotteries into medical school and variation in the timing of medical degrees – support a causal interpretation of these effects. We estimate that unequal exposure to health-related expertise may account for up to 18 percent of the population-wide health-income gradient.
Keywords: health inequality; health literacy; intrafamily expertise; Sweden
JEL Codes: D12; D83; G22; H1; H4; I13; I14
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| access to intrafamily medical expertise (I11) | improved health literacy (I19) |
| access to intrafamily medical expertise (I11) | better adherence to medication (I12) |
| access to intrafamily medical expertise (I11) | reduction in lifestyle-related diseases (I12) |
| unequal exposure to health-related expertise (I14) | health-income gradient (I14) |
| access to intrafamily medical expertise (I11) | improved physical health (I19) |
| access to intrafamily medical expertise (I11) | higher preventive health investments (I14) |