The utility of health and wealth

Moshe Levy; Adi Rizansky Nir

doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2012.02.003

The utility of health and wealth

Moshe Levy, Adi Rizansky Nir

BA Business Department

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Tradeoffs between health and wealth are among the most important decisions individuals make, and are central to social and economic policy. Yet, only a few studies have investigated the utility of health and wealth empirically. This paper investigates this utility function both theoretically and empirically. We conduct detailed personal interviews with 180 cancer patients, and also obtain questionnaires from 132 diabetes patients. We find strong support for the utility function U(. h, w). =. h·. log(. w), where h denotes health and w denotes wealth.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	379-392
Number of pages	14
Journal	Journal of Health Economics
Volume	31
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2012.02.003
State	Published - Mar 2012

Keywords

Health
Logarithmic preference
Utility
Wealth

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Health Policy
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.jhealeco.2012.02.003

Cite this

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title = "The utility of health and wealth",

abstract = "Tradeoffs between health and wealth are among the most important decisions individuals make, and are central to social and economic policy. Yet, only a few studies have investigated the utility of health and wealth empirically. This paper investigates this utility function both theoretically and empirically. We conduct detailed personal interviews with 180 cancer patients, and also obtain questionnaires from 132 diabetes patients. We find strong support for the utility function U(. h, w). =. h·. log(. w), where h denotes health and w denotes wealth.",

keywords = "Health, Logarithmic preference, Utility, Wealth",

author = "Moshe Levy and Nir, \{Adi Rizansky\}",

note = "Funding Information: We are grateful to Tony Culyer, the Editor, and to the two anonymous referees for their very helpful comments and suggestions. We thank the Zagagi Fund for financial support.",

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AU - Nir, Adi Rizansky

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N2 - Tradeoffs between health and wealth are among the most important decisions individuals make, and are central to social and economic policy. Yet, only a few studies have investigated the utility of health and wealth empirically. This paper investigates this utility function both theoretically and empirically. We conduct detailed personal interviews with 180 cancer patients, and also obtain questionnaires from 132 diabetes patients. We find strong support for the utility function U(. h, w). =. h·. log(. w), where h denotes health and w denotes wealth.

AB - Tradeoffs between health and wealth are among the most important decisions individuals make, and are central to social and economic policy. Yet, only a few studies have investigated the utility of health and wealth empirically. This paper investigates this utility function both theoretically and empirically. We conduct detailed personal interviews with 180 cancer patients, and also obtain questionnaires from 132 diabetes patients. We find strong support for the utility function U(. h, w). =. h·. log(. w), where h denotes health and w denotes wealth.

KW - Health

KW - Logarithmic preference

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KW - Wealth

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JO - Journal of Health Economics

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ER -

The utility of health and wealth

Abstract

Keywords

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

UN SDGs

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