True health vs. response styles : exploring cross-country differences in self-reported health


Jürges, Hendrik


[img]
Preview
PDF
meadp_105_06.pdf - Published

Download (934kB)

URL: https://ub-madoc.bib.uni-mannheim.de/1581
URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:180-madoc-15818
Document Type: Working paper
Year of publication: 2006
The title of a journal, publication series: MEA Discussion Papers
Volume: 105
Place of publication: Mannheim
Publication language: English
Institution: School of Law and Economics > Sonstige - Fakultät für Rechtswissenschaft und Volkswirtschaftslehre
MADOC publication series: Veröffentlichungen des MEA (Mannheim Research Institute For the Economics of Aging) > MEA Discussion Papers
Subject: 300 Social sciences, sociology, anthropology
Classification: JEL: I12 C42 ,
Subject headings (SWD): Gesundheit , Messung , Älterer Mensch , Europäische Union
Keywords (English): Self-assessed health , response bias , cross-national-study
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to decompose cross-national differences in self-reported health into parts explained by differences in "true" health, measured by diagnosed conditions and measurements, and parts explained by cross-cultural differences in response styles. The data used were drawn from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe 2004 (SHARE), using information from 22,731 individuals aged 50 and over from 10 European countries. Self-rated general health shows large cross-country variations. According to their self-reports, the healthiest respondents live in the Scandinavian countries and the least healthy live in Southern Europe. Counterfactual self-reported health distributions that assume identical response styles in each country show much less variation in self-reports than factual self-reports. Danish and Swedish respondents tend to largely over-rate their health (relative to the average) whereas Germans tend to under-rate their health. If differences in reporting styles are taken into account, cross-country variations in general health are reduced but not eliminated. Failing to account for differences in reporting styles may yield misleading results.
Additional information:




Dieser Eintrag ist Teil der Universitätsbibliographie.

Das Dokument wird vom Publikationsserver der Universitätsbibliothek Mannheim bereitgestellt.




Metadata export


Citation


+ Search Authors in

+ Download Statistics

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics



You have found an error? Please let us know about your desired correction here: E-Mail


Actions (login required)

Show item Show item