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THE IMPACT OF HEALTH ON POVERTY: EVIDENCE FROM THE SOUTH AFRICAN INTEGRATED FAMILY SURVEY
Author(s) -
GODLONTON SUSAN,
KESWELL MALCOLM
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
south african journal of economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.502
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1813-6982
pISSN - 0038-2280
DOI - 10.1111/j.1813-6982.2005.00010.x
Subject(s) - poverty , endogeneity , socioeconomics , environmental health , body mass index , family health , index (typography) , demographic economics , economics , economic growth , medicine , econometrics , nursing , pathology , world wide web , computer science
This paper examines the impact of health status on poverty status, accounting for the endogeneity of health status. Using exogenous measures of health status from the South African Integrated Health Survey, we instrument for health status while allowing for covariation among the unobservables influencing both health and household poverty status. Health status, as captured by the body mass index, is shown to strongly influence poverty status. Households that contain more unhealthy individuals are 60 per cent more likely to be income poor than households that contain fewer unhealthy individuals, and this finding appears invariant to the choice of poverty line.