| By: |
Antonini, Marcello (LSE);
Costa-Font, Joan (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: |
Health status can alter individuals’ social preferences, and specifically
individuals' preferences regarding fairness in the access to and financing of
health care. We draw on a dataset of 73, 452 individuals across 22 countries
and a novel instrumental variable strategy that exploits variation in health
status resulting from cross-country exposure to the national childhood
Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccination schedules. We document causal
evidence consistent with the unhealthy self-interest hypothesis, which
indicates that better health increases preferences for a fairer health care
system. We estimate that a one-unit increase in self-reported health increases
support for fair health care access by 11% and the willingness to support fair
financing by 8%. Our findings suggest that improving population health, they
may give rise to stronger support for interventions to improve equitable
health system access and financing. |
| Keywords: |
social preferences, willingness to pay, preferences for healthcare financing fairness, health status, BCG vaccine, instrumental variables |
| JEL: |
I13 I14 I38 |
| Date: |
2025–11 |
| URL: |
https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18255 |