American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics
ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)
Health, Height, Height Shrinkage, and SES at Older Ages: Evidence from China
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 5,
no. 2, April 2013
(pp. 86–121)
Abstract
In this paper, we build on the literature that examines associations between height and health outcomes of the elderly. We investigate the associations of height shrinkage at older ages with socioeconomic status, finding that height shrinkage for both men and women is negatively associated with better schooling, current urban residence, and household per capita expenditures. We then investigate the relationships between pre-shrinkage height, height shrinkage, and a rich set of health outcomes of older respondents, finding that height shrinkage is positively associated with poor health outcomes across a variety of outcomes, being especially strong for cognition outcomes. (JEL I12, J14, O15, P36)Citation
Huang, Wei, Xiaoyan Lei, Geert Ridder, John Strauss, and Yaohui Zhao. 2013. "Health, Height, Height Shrinkage, and SES at Older Ages: Evidence from China." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 5 (2): 86–121. DOI: 10.1257/app.5.2.86Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- I12 Health Production
- J14 Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-labor Market Discrimination
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
- P36 Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions: Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training: Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty