Health Disparities Across Education: The Role of Differential Reporting Error

43 Pages Posted: 4 Sep 2015

See all articles by John Cawley

John Cawley

Cornell University - College of Human Ecology, Department of Policy Analysis & Management (PAM); Cornell University - College of Arts & Sciences, Department of Economics; Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE); University of Galway - J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics; NBER; IZA

Anna Choi

Sejong University - Department of Public Administration

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Abstract

One of the most robust findings in health economics is that higher-educated individuals tend to be in better health. This paper tests whether health disparities across education are to some extent due to differences in reporting error across education. We test this hypothesis using data from the pooled National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) Continuous for 1999-2012, which include both self-reports and objective verification for an extensive set of health behaviors and conditions, including smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. We find that better educated individuals report their health more accurately. This is true for a wide range of behaviors and conditions, even socially stigmatized ones like smoking and obesity. Differential reporting error across education leads to underestimates of the true health disparities across education that average 19.3%.

Keywords: health, education, disparities, reporting error

JEL Classification: I1, I12, I14, I20, I24, I3

Suggested Citation

Cawley, John and Choi, Anna, Health Disparities Across Education: The Role of Differential Reporting Error. IZA Discussion Paper No. 9141, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2655090 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2655090

John Cawley (Contact Author)

Cornell University - College of Human Ecology, Department of Policy Analysis & Management (PAM) ( email )

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Anna Choi

Sejong University - Department of Public Administration ( email )

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