A longitudinal analysis of the impact of health shocks on the wealth of elders

Jinkook Lee, Hyungsoo Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

We investigate the impact of health shocks on wealth, using all four waves of the Health and Retirement Study, and estimate not only the short-term effect but also the long-term effect of health shocks on wealth of the elderly. We find that new health events lower wealth in elders during the period in which such health shocks occur, but the impact tends to disappear over time. We also find that health shocks result in greater wealth depletion when they occur later in life. Together with existing health problems, the overall impact of health problems on wealth increases over time.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)217-230
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Population Economics
Volume21
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2008

Keywords

  • Chronic conditions
  • Elders
  • Long-term effect

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Demography
  • Economics and Econometrics

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