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Title: Income Effects on Health: Evidence from Union Army Pensions

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2013

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Abstract: To what extent do rising income levels explain the decline in adult mortality rates experienced in the U.S. a century ago? I explore this question by investigating the income effect of the countrys first wide-scale entitlement program: the Union Army pensions. Documenting that Republican Congressional candidates boosted pensions to secure votes, I exploit exogenous increases in income stemming from patronage politics to estimate the semielasticity of disease onset with respect to pensions. Income effects are large for cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses. Evidence suggests that pensions affect health through increases in living standards, which serve to prevent the onset of disease.

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Authors: Eli, Shari

Publisher: University of Toronto

Data Collections: IPUMS NHGIS

Topics: Fertility and Mortality, Labor Force and Occupational Structure

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