To read this content please select one of the options below:

Equity in Health and Equivalent Incomes

Erik Schokkaert

Health and Inequality

ISBN: 978-1-78190-553-1, eISBN: 978-1-78190-554-8

Publication date: 30 December 2013

Abstract

We compare two approaches to measuring inequity in the health distribution. The first is the concentration index. The second is the calculation of the inequality in an overall measure of individual well-being, capturing both the income and health dimensions. We introduce the concept of equivalent income as a measure of well-being that respects preferences with respect to the trade-off between income and health, but is not subjectively welfarist since it does not rely on the direct measurement of happiness. Using data from a representative survey in France, we show that equivalent incomes can be measured using a contingent valuation method. We present counterfactual simulations to illustrate the different perspectives of the approaches with respect to distributive justice.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Owen O’Donnell for his very useful comments. This research was supported by the Health Chair, a joint initiative by PSL, Université Paris-Dauphine, ENSAE, and MGEN under the aegis of the Fondation du Risque (FDR).

Citation

Schokkaert, E., Van de Voorde, C., Dormont, B., Fleurbaey, M., Luchini, S., Samson, A.-L. and Thébaut, C. (2013), "Equity in Health and Equivalent Incomes", Health and Inequality (Research on Economic Inequality, Vol. 21), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 131-156. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1049-2585(2013)0000021007

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited