Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-17T11:26:06.410Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An economic model of social capital and health

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2008

SHERMAN FOLLAND
SHERMAN FOLLAND*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Oakland University, Rochester, USA
*
*Correspondence to: Dr Sherman Folland, Department of Economics, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309, USA. Email: folland@oakland.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper presents an economic model to connect with the substantial empirical literature on social capital and health that exists largely outside of economics. Representative papers from that literature are reviewed and these show that disagreements exist on the nature and definition of social capital. The paper presents a new line of reasoning to support the view of social capital as a network of interpersonal bonds to include the bonds of family and close friends, not just the community at large. It then adapts and extends the work of Becker and Murphy on social economics to explain the demand for health goods as well as health bads in the presence of increased social capital. It further develops choice under risk to explain the demand for goods that entail a risk of death, such as cigarettes, illegal drugs, or excessive drinking. Empirical examples, including new statistical analyses are presented to illustrate the derivations.

Type
Articles
Information
Health Economics, Policy and Law , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , October 2008 , pp. 333 - 348
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akerlof, G.A. (1998), ‘Men without Children’, The Economic Journal, 115: 715–753.Google Scholar
Andreoni, J. (1990), ‘Impure Altruism and Donations Public Goods: A Theory of Warm-Glow Giving’, The Economic Journal, 100: 464–477.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker, G.S. and K.M., Murphy (2000), Social Economics, Cambridge, MA: Belnap Press.Google Scholar
Bolin, K. et al. (2003), ‘Investment in Social Capital and Implications of Social Interactions for the Production of Health’, Social Science and Medicine, 56(12):2379–2390.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, S. et al. (1997), ‘Social Ties and Susceptibility to the Common Cold’, Journal of the American Medical Association, 277: 1940–44.Google ScholarPubMed
Deaton, A. and C., Paxson (2001), ‘Mortality, Income, and Income Inequality Over Time in Britain and the United States’, Working Paper 8534, National Bureau of Economic Research.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeLiere, T. and H., Levy (2004), ‘Worker Sorting and Risk of Death on the Job’, Journal of Labor Economics, 22(4): 210–217.Google Scholar
Durlauf, S.N. (2002), ‘The Empirics of Social Capital’, The Economic Journal, 112: F459–F479.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Durlauf, S.N. and M., Fafchamps (2004), ‘Social Capital’, National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper 10485.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Folland, S. (2006), ‘Value of Life and Behavior Toward Health Risks: An Interpretation of Social Capital’, Health Economics, 15: 159–171.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Folland, S. (2007) ‘Does Community Social Capital Contribute to Population Health?’, Social Science and Medicine, 64: 2342–2354.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grossman, M. (1972). ‘On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health’, Journal of Political Economy, 80: 223–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Islam, M.K. et al. (2006), ‘Social Capital and Health: Does Egalitarianism Matter? A Literature Survey’, International Journal for Equity in Health, 5: 1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kawachi, I. (1999), ‘Social Capital and Community Effects in Population and Individual Health’, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 896: 120–130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kawachi, I. and L.F., Berkman (2001), ‘Social Ties and Mental Health’, Journal of Urban Health, 78: 458–467.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kawachi, I., et al. (1997), ‘Social Capital, Income Inequality, and Mortality’, American Journal of Public Health, 87: 1491–1498.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kennelly, B., O'Shea, E., and Gavey, E. (2003), ‘Social Capital, Life Expectancy and Mortality: A Cross-National Examination’, Social Science and Medicine, 56(12): 2367–2377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kim, D. et al. (2006), ‘US State and County Level Social Capital in Relation to Obesity Physical Inactivity: A Multilevel, Multivariate Analysis’, Social Science and Medicine, 63: 1045–1059.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, D. and Kawachi, I. (2006), ‘A Multilevel Analysis of Key Forms of Community and Individual-Level Social Capital as Predictors of Self-Rated Health in the United States’, Journal of Urban Health, 83: 813–826.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lleras-Muney, A. (2005), ‘The Relationship of Education and Adult Mortality in the United States’, Review of Economic Studies, 72(1): 189–221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindstrom, M. (2006), ‘Social Capital and Lack of Belief in the Possibility to Influence One's Own Health: A Population-Based Study’, Journal of Public Health, 34: 69–75.Google ScholarPubMed
Lynch, J. et al. (2004), ‘Is Income Inequality a Determinant of Population Health? Part 2: US National and Regional Trends in Income Inequality and Age and Cause Specific Mortality’, The Milbank Quarterly, 82(2): 355–400.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poortinga, W. (2006), ‘Social Capital: An Individual or Collective Resource for Health?’,Social Science and Medicine, 62: 292–302.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pritchett, L. and Summers, L. (1996), ‘Wealthier is Healthier’, Journal of Human Resources, 31: 841–868.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putnam, R.D. (1995), ‘Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital’, Journal of Democracy, 6:65–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putnam, R.D. (2000), Bowling Alone, New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Robison, L.J. and Hanson, S.D. (1995), ‘Social Capital and economic Cooperation’, Journal of Agricultural Applied Economics, 1:43–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robison, L.J., Schmid, A.A., and Siles, M.E. (2002), ‘Is Social Capital Really Capital?’, Review of Social Economy, 60: 1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robison, L.J. and Flora, J.L. (2003), ‘The Social Capital Paradigm: Bridging Across Disciplines’, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 85: 1187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rocco, L. et al. (2006), ‘Does Social Capital Determine Health? Evidence from Eight Transition Countries’, mimeo, University of Padua.Google Scholar
Saegert, S. and Winkel, G. (2004), ‘Crime, Social Capital, and Community Participation’, American Journal of Community Psychology, 34:219–233.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sapolsky, R.M. (1998), Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: An Updated Guide to Stress, Stress Related Diseases and Coping, New York: W. H. Freeman & Company.Google Scholar
Silva, M.J. et al. . (2005), ‘Social Capital and Mental Illness: A Systematic Review’, Social Science and Medicine, 62: 292–302.Google Scholar
Subramanian, S.V. and Kawachi, I. (2006),‘Whose health is affected by income inequality? A multilevel interaction analyses of contemporaneous and lagged effects of state income inequality on individual self-rated health in the United States’, Health and Place, 12: 141–156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Subramanian, S.V., Kim, D.J., and Kawachi, I. (2002),‘Social Trust and Self-Rated Health in US Communities: A Multilevel Analysis’, Journal of Urban Health. Supplement, 79: 521–534.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Szreter, S. and Woolcock, M. (2004), ‘Health by Association? Social Capital, Social Theory, and the Political Economy of Public Health’, International Journal of Epidemiology, 33: 650–667.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weitzman, E. and Chen, Y. (2004), ‘Risk Modifying Effect of Social Capital on Measures Heavy Alcohol Consumption, Alcohol Abuse, Harms and Secondary Effects: National Survey Findings’, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 59:303–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar