Equity in health and equivalent incomes

Schokkaert, Erik;Van De Voorde, Carine;Dormont, Brigitte;Fleurbaey, Marc;Thébaut, Clémence;et.al.
(2013) Research on Economic Inequality — Vol. 21, p. 131-156 (2013)

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Authors
  • Schokkaert, Erik
    Author
  • Van De Voorde, Carine
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  • Dormont, Brigitte
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  • Fleurbaey, Marc
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  • Thébaut, Clémence
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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. Copyright © 2013 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Citations

Schokkaert, E., Van De Voorde, C., Dormont, B., Fleurbaey, M., Luchini, S., Samson, A.-L., & Thébaut, C. (2013). Equity in health and equivalent incomes. Research on Economic Inequality, 21, 131-156. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1049-2585(2013)0000021007 (Original work published 2013)