Income is more protective against pain in more equal countries
It is empirically well-established that the rich suffer less pain on average than the poor. However, much less is known about the factors that moderate the size of the income gradient of pain. Using data from over 1 million adults from 127 countries worldwide, this article conducts a systematic test...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174183 |
| _version_ | 1811681297212375040 |
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| author | Tang, Cheng Keat Macchia, Lucía Powdthavee, Nattavudh |
| author2 | School of Social Sciences |
| author_facet | School of Social Sciences Tang, Cheng Keat Macchia, Lucía Powdthavee, Nattavudh |
| author_sort | Tang, Cheng Keat |
| collection | NTU |
| description | It is empirically well-established that the rich suffer less pain on average than the poor. However, much less is known about the factors that moderate the size of the income gradient of pain. Using data from over 1 million adults from 127 countries worldwide, this article conducts a systematic test on whether income inequality moderates the pain gap between the rich and the poor. While pain is negatively associated with income in all but one country, there is strong evidence to suggest that an increase in income is much more protective against pain in countries where the income distribution is relatively more equal. The results are robust to using different measures of income inequality, removing outliers, and accounting for country and year fixed effects. We explain our results through the lens of income rank effects on health outcomes. Overall, our findings suggest that pain-reducing policies through income redistribution may need to take income inequality into consideration when evaluating their effectiveness. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T03:38:42Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/174183 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T03:38:42Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1741832024-03-24T15:30:27Z Income is more protective against pain in more equal countries Tang, Cheng Keat Macchia, Lucía Powdthavee, Nattavudh School of Social Sciences Social Sciences Pain Income It is empirically well-established that the rich suffer less pain on average than the poor. However, much less is known about the factors that moderate the size of the income gradient of pain. Using data from over 1 million adults from 127 countries worldwide, this article conducts a systematic test on whether income inequality moderates the pain gap between the rich and the poor. While pain is negatively associated with income in all but one country, there is strong evidence to suggest that an increase in income is much more protective against pain in countries where the income distribution is relatively more equal. The results are robust to using different measures of income inequality, removing outliers, and accounting for country and year fixed effects. We explain our results through the lens of income rank effects on health outcomes. Overall, our findings suggest that pain-reducing policies through income redistribution may need to take income inequality into consideration when evaluating their effectiveness. Published version 2024-03-19T01:43:09Z 2024-03-19T01:43:09Z 2023 Journal Article Tang, C. K., Macchia, L. & Powdthavee, N. (2023). Income is more protective against pain in more equal countries. Social Science & Medicine, 333, 116181-. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116181 0277-9536 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174183 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116181 37611460 2-s2.0-85168509865 333 116181 en Social Science & Medicine © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Social Sciences Pain Income Tang, Cheng Keat Macchia, Lucía Powdthavee, Nattavudh Income is more protective against pain in more equal countries |
| title | Income is more protective against pain in more equal countries |
| title_full | Income is more protective against pain in more equal countries |
| title_fullStr | Income is more protective against pain in more equal countries |
| title_full_unstemmed | Income is more protective against pain in more equal countries |
| title_short | Income is more protective against pain in more equal countries |
| title_sort | income is more protective against pain in more equal countries |
| topic | Social Sciences Pain Income |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174183 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tangchengkeat incomeismoreprotectiveagainstpaininmoreequalcountries AT macchialucia incomeismoreprotectiveagainstpaininmoreequalcountries AT powdthaveenattavudh incomeismoreprotectiveagainstpaininmoreequalcountries |