Income Inequality and Health Self-Assessment in Russia1

ABSTRACT This article looks at income’s effect on the health and well-being of Russians. In particular, it studies the effect of income on health self-assessments by describing the interactions between these factors, analyzing them, and modeling them econometrically. Based on panel data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) of public health and economic status, a pooled generalized ordered logit regression was constructed for the categorical variable “deteriorating self-assessment of health.” It calculates the marginal effects of the model’s independent variables (different income groups, the Gini coefficient, and others) for three different self-assessments of health (good, average, and poor). Econometric modeling showed that Russia satisfies the absolute income and income inequality hypotheses and that there is a statistically significant correlation between income, its inequality (Gini coefficient of income differentiation), and self-assessment of health. It was discovered in a number of specifications that the effect of income on health self-assessment is greater in men than in women. This is apparently linked to the greater involvement of men in the labor market. The results suggest that a government policy to increase incomes and reduce regional differentiation could improve the public’s subjective perceptions of health.