Objectives: Do people living in more corrupted countries report worse health? We answer this question by investigating the relationship between country-level corruption and the number of chronic diseases for a sample of Europeans aged above 50. Methods: We link a rich panel dataset on individual health and socio-demographic characteristics with two country-level corruption indices, analyse the overall relationship with pooled ordinary least squares and fixed-effect models, explore heterogeneous effects driven by country and individual factors, and disentangle the effect across different public sectors. Results: Individuals living in more corrupted countries suffer from a higher number of chronic diseases. The heterogeneity analysis shows that (1) health outcomes are worsened especially for respondents living in relatively low-income countries; (2) the health of females and people with poor socio-economic status is more affected by corruption; (3) the corruption–health negative link mainly occurs for cardiovascular diseases and ulcers; (4) only corrupted sectors linked with healthcare are associated with poorer health. Conclusions: We inform the policy debate with novel results in establishing a nexus between corruption and morbidity indicators.

Ferrari, L., Salustri, F. (2020). The relationship between corruption and chronic diseases: evidence from Europeans aged 50 years and older. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, 65(3), 345-355 [10.1007/s00038-020-01347-w].

The relationship between corruption and chronic diseases: evidence from Europeans aged 50 years and older

Salustri F.
2020-01-01

Abstract

Objectives: Do people living in more corrupted countries report worse health? We answer this question by investigating the relationship between country-level corruption and the number of chronic diseases for a sample of Europeans aged above 50. Methods: We link a rich panel dataset on individual health and socio-demographic characteristics with two country-level corruption indices, analyse the overall relationship with pooled ordinary least squares and fixed-effect models, explore heterogeneous effects driven by country and individual factors, and disentangle the effect across different public sectors. Results: Individuals living in more corrupted countries suffer from a higher number of chronic diseases. The heterogeneity analysis shows that (1) health outcomes are worsened especially for respondents living in relatively low-income countries; (2) the health of females and people with poor socio-economic status is more affected by corruption; (3) the corruption–health negative link mainly occurs for cardiovascular diseases and ulcers; (4) only corrupted sectors linked with healthcare are associated with poorer health. Conclusions: We inform the policy debate with novel results in establishing a nexus between corruption and morbidity indicators.
2020
Ferrari, L., Salustri, F. (2020). The relationship between corruption and chronic diseases: evidence from Europeans aged 50 years and older. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, 65(3), 345-355 [10.1007/s00038-020-01347-w].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11590/401404
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