Abstract
It is well documented that higher socioeconomic status is associated with favorable health status. Given regional variations in the pace and consequence of economic reform in China, this relationship may differ cross-regionally. Building upon the theoretical notion about distinct stratification system under state-socialism versus market economy, as well as the fundamental causes of health disparities, this study compares the association of education and cadre status with self-rated health across geographical regions (e.g., provinces) in reform-era China. Analyses of data pooled from the 1991-2000 China Health and Nutrition Survey reveal that the association between education and self-rated health is stronger in a more marketized region. Health benefits associated with a cadre status tend to decline in a more marketized region, which however fails to reach a statistical significance. The findings highlight the role regional contexts play in shaping health disparities in reform-era China.
Highlights
A large body of literature have documented that socioeconomic status (SES) is an important predictor of health
Recognizing regional variation in the extent of market economic reform in China, the present study examines the linkage among market transition, social stratification, and health disparities by estimating the interaction effects of education and cadre status with regions
The results reveal that the association between education and self-rated health is most prominent in the coastal region, confirming the first hypothesis
Summary
A large body of literature have documented that socioeconomic status (SES) is an important predictor of health. Considering that the United States and Iceland represents two opposite welfare-state regimes – that is, a liberal welfare state in the U.S and a social-democratic welfare state in Iceland, Olafdottir (2007) compares health disparities between the two countries. This cross-national comparison illustrates the role of institutional arrangements (i.e., social welfare policy, levels of inequality) in shaping the relationship between stratification and health disparities (Olafdottir, 2007). Comparisons of health disparities suggest that the nature and strength of the associations between SES and health varies by countries because of different sociopolitical and historical contexts
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