Standard policy prescriptions for improving public health in less developed countries (LDCs) prioritise raising average income levels over redistributive policies since it is widely accepted that 'wealthier is healthier'. It is argued that income inequality becomes a significant predictor of public health only after the 'epidemiological transition'. This paper tests this theory in India, where ...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To determine the association of regional income inequality within New Zealand with mortality among 25-64 year olds. DESIGN Individual census and mortality records were linked over the 1991-94 period. Income inequality (Gini coefficients) and average household income variables were calculated for 35 regions. "Individual level" variables were sex, age, ethnicity, household incom...

We tested two competing hypotheses-relative social position and community resources-in regards to their effect on two co-occurring health problems (depression, and obesity) in a sample of smokers participating in an online smoking cessation intervention. Income and education data at the zip code level from the 2000 Census was linked with individual level data. Logistic regression models were us...

Mental health is likely to be influenced by contextual variables that emerge only at the level of the group. We studied the effect of two such group-level variables, within-state income inequality and alcohol tax policy, on symptoms of current depression and alcohol dependence in a US national sample, controlling for state-level and individual characteristics. A cross-sectional US national prob...

OBJECTIVES To examine the association of individual income and end of life (EOL) care in older cancer decedents in Taiwan. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS 28,978 decedents >65 years were diagnosed with cancer and died during 2009-2011 in Taiwan. Of these decedents, 10941, 16535, and 1502 were categorize...

David Campbell and Michael Parisi are economists with the Individual Statistics Branch Returns Analysis Section. This article was written under the direction of Jeff Hartzok, Chief. T axpayers filed 130.3 million returns for Tax Year 2001, of which almost 94.8 million (or 72.8 percent) were classified as taxable returns. Adjusted gross income (AGI) on taxable returns fell 4.0 percent to $5,847 ...

In this paper we assess the relationship between the aggregate income elasticity of aggregate demand and individual income elasticities of demand. We show that the aggregate elasticity is equal to the mean of individual elasticities plus a covariance term. Consequently, the sign of this covariance term determines whether the aggregate elasticity overestimates or underestimates the mean of indiv...

Relative Income, Happiness and Utility: An Explanation for the Easterlin Paradox and Other Puzzles The well-known Easterlin paradox points out that average happiness has remained constant over time despite sharp rises in GNP per head. At the same time, a micro literature has typically found positive correlations between individual income and individual measures of subjective well-being. This pa...