Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T02:06:03.108Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Social capital and the social formation of health-related preferences and behaviours

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2008

JOAN COSTA-FONT  and
PHILIPA MLADOVSKY
JOAN COSTA-FONT*
Affiliation:
LSE Health, Department of Social Policy, and European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
PHILIPA MLADOVSKY
Affiliation:
LSE Health and Department of Social Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
*
* Correspondence to: Dr Joan Costa-Font, LSE Health, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Social capital appears to be an important determinant of health production and health utilization and demand. However, there is limited evidence on the mechanisms underlying this relationship. In this article we draw on the evidence and insights reported in this special issue along with findings from the economic and other social science literature to develop a discussion on the explanations of the likely (behavioural) mechanisms that underpin the connection between social capital and health. An important and under-explored influence mediating the relationship between social capital and health (behaviour) lies in the ‘social formation of health preferences and constraints’ individuals face in determining their life-styles and in using health care. In particular, we point to the interdependence in how individuals in the first place perceive and also respond to common health risks and the role of cultural transmission and social identity as conveyors of this process. We argue that an emerging body of evidence suggesting that interdependent preferences influence health calls for further re-formulation of traditional demand for and production of health models. Additionally, methodological problems are highlighted and possible ways forward suggested.

Type
Perspective
Information
Health Economics, Policy and Law , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , October 2008 , pp. 413 - 427
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. and Kranton, R.E. (1999), ‘Economics and identity’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(3): 715–753.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker, G.S. (1974), ‘A theory of social interactions’, Journal of Political Economy, 82: 1063–1093.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernheim, D. B. (1994), ‘A theory of conformity’, Journal of Political Economy, 10(5): 841–877.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berkman, L.F. and Glass, T.A. (2000), ‘Social integration, social networks, social support, and health’, in Berkman, L.F. and Kawachi, I. (eds), Social Epidemiology, New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bisin, A. and Verdier, T. (2000), ‘The economics of cultural transmission and the dynamics of preferences’, Journal of Economic Theory, 97:298–319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowles, S. (1998), ‘Endogenous preferences: the cultural consequences of markets and other economic institutions’, Journal of Economic Literature, 36: 75–111.Google Scholar
Brown, T.T., Scheffler, R. M.Seo, S., and Reed, M. (2006), ‘The empirical relationship between community social capital and the demand for cigarettes’, Health Economics, 15: 1159–1172.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Case, A. C. (1991), ‘Spatial patterns in household demand’, Econometrica, 59(4):953–965.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Case, A. and Katz, L. (1991), ‘The company you keep: the effects of family and neighborhood on disadvantaged families’, NBER Working Paper No. 3705.Google Scholar
Caplan, P. (ed.) (1997), Food, Health and Identity, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Caplan, P. (ed.) (2000), Risk Revisited, London: Pluto Press.Google Scholar
Christakis, N. A. and Fowler, J. H. (2007), ‘The spread of obesity in a large social network over 32 years’, New England Journal of Medicine, 357(4):370–379.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, A and Lohéac, Y. (2007), ‘It wasn’t me, it wasn’t them! Social influence on risk behaviour by adolescence’, Journal of Health Economics, 26: 763–784.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coleman, J. (1988), ‘Social capital in the creation of human capital’, American Journal of Sociology, 94: S95–S121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costa-Font, J. and Gil, J. (2004), ‘Social interactions and the contemporaneous determinants of individuals’ weight’, Applied Economics, 36(10): 2253–2263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costa-Font, J. and Gil, J. (2006), ‘Revisiting the fat and jolly hypothesis: obesity and depression in Spain’, Socio-Economic Review, 4(3): 513–542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costa-Font, J. and Gil, J. (2008), ‘Decomposing socio-economic inequalities in obesity: evidence from Spain’, Food Policy, 33(1): 61–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costa-Font, J. and Moscone, F. (2008), ‘The impact of decentralization and inter-territorial interactions on Spanish health expenditure’, Empirical Economics, 34(1): 167–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cultler, D. and Glaeser, E. (2007), ‘Social interactions and smoking’, NBER Working Paper No. 13477.Google Scholar
Duesenberry, J.S. (1949), Income, Savings and the Theory of Consumer Behaviour, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Durkheim, É. (1897), Suicide, The Free Press reprint 1997.Google Scholar
Ellison, G. and Fudenberg, D. (1993), ‘Rules of thumb for social learning’, Journal of Political Economy, 101(4):612–643.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fine, B. (2001), Social Capital versus Social Theory: Political Economy and Social Science at the Turn of the Millennium, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Fiscella, K. and Franks, P. (1997), ‘Poverty or income inequality as predictor of mortality: longitudinal cohort study’, British Medical Journal, 314:1724–1727.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Folland, S. (2006), ‘Value of life and behaviour towards health risks: an interpretation of social capital’, Health Economics, 15: 159–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Folland, S. (2008), ‘An economic model of social capital and health’, Health Economics, Policy and Law (this issue).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodman, E. and Whitaker, R.C. (2002), ‘A prospective study of the role of depression in the development and persistence of adolescent obesity’, Pediatrics, 109: 497–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gravelle, H. (1998), ‘How much of the relation between population mortality and unequal distribution of income is a statistical artefact?’, British Medical Journal, 316: 382–385.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glaeser, E., Sacerdote, B., and Scheinkman, J. (2003), ‘The social multiplier’, Journal of the European Economic Association, April–May.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grootaert, C. and Bastelaer, T. van (2001), Understanding and Measuring Social Capital: A Synthesis of Findings and Recommendations from the Social Capital Initiative, Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Hart, N. (1986), ‘Inequalities in health: the individual versus the environment’, Journal of Royal Statistical Society, Series A (General), 149: 228–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
House, J.S., Landis, K.R.and Umberson, D.(1988), ‘Social relationships and health’, Science, 241: 540–545.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huisman, M., Kunst, A.E., and Mackenback, J.P. (2005), ‘Inequalities in the prevalence of smoking in the European Union: comparing education and income’, Preventive Medicine, 40: 756–764.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Iversen, T. (2008), ‘An exploratory study of associations between social capital and self-assessed health in Norway’, Health Economics, Policy and Law (this issue).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Judge, K. (1995), ‘Income distribution and life expectancy: a critical appraisal’, British Medical Journal, 11: 1282–1285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Judge, K. et al. (1998), ‘Income inequality and population health’, Social Science and Medicine, 64 (4–5): 567–579.Google Scholar
Jusot, F., Grignon, M., and Dourgnon, P. (2008), ‘Access to psychosocial resources and health: exploratory findings from a survey of the French population’, Health Economics, Policy and Law (this issue).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaplan, G.A., Pamuk, E.R., Lynch, J.W., and Cohen, R.D. (1996), ‘Inequality in income and mortality in the United States: analysis of mortality and potential pathways’, British Medical Journal, 312: 999–1003.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kennedy, B.P, Kawachi, I., and Prothrow-Stith, D.(1996), ‘Income distribution and mortality: cross sectional ecological study of the Robin Hood index in the United States’, British Medical Journal, 312: 1004–1007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laporte, A., Nauenberg, E.and Shen, L. (2008), ‘Aging, social capital and health care utilization in Canada’, Health Economics, Policy and Law (this issue).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leibenstein, H. (1950), ‘Bandwagon, snob, and Veblen effects in the theory of consumer’s demand’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 64(2): 183–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindstrom, M.Hanson, B.S. and Ostergren, P. (2001), ‘Socioeconomic differences in leisure-time physical activity: the role of social participation and social capital in shaping health-related behaviour’, Social Science and Medicine, 52: 441–451.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
Lynch, J. W., Smith, G.D., Kaplan, G.A., and House, J.S. (2000), ‘Income inequality and mortality: importance to health of individual income, psychosocial environment, or material conditions’, British Medical Journal, 320: 1200–1204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manski, C.F. (1993), ‘Identification of endogenous social effects: the reflection problem’, Review of Economic Studies, 60: 531–542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manski, G. (2000), ‘Economic analysis of social interactions’, NBER Working Paper No. 7580.Google Scholar
Marmot, M.G. and Wilkinson, R. (eds) (1999), Social Determinants of Health, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mladovsky, P. and Mossialos, E.A. (2008), ‘Conceptual framework for community-based health insurance in low-income countries: social capital and economic development’, World Development, 36(4):590–607.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, S., Haines, V., Hawe, P., and Shiell, A. (2006), ‘Lost in translation: a genealogy of the “social capital” concept in public health’, Journal Epidemiol Community Health, 60(8): 729–734.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mossialos, E., Costa-Font, J., and Rudisill, C. (2008), ‘Does organ donation legislation affect individuals’ willingness to donate their own or their relative’s organs? Evidence from European Union survey data’, BMC Health Services Research, 8: 48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Portes, A. (1998), ‘Social capital: its origins and applications in modern sociology’, Annual Review of Sociology, 24: 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Portes, A. and Sensenbrenner, J. (1993), ‘Embeddedness and immigration – notes on the social determinants of economic action’, American Journal of Sociology, 98(6):1320–1350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Propper, C., Jones, K., Bolster, A., Burgess, S., Johnston, R., and Sarker, R. (2005), ‘Local neighbourhood and mental health: evidence from the UK’, Social Science and Medicine, 61: 2065–2083.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Puhl, R. and Brownell, K.D. (2001), ‘Bias, discrimination, and obesity’, Obesity Research, 9: 788–805.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Putnam, R.D., Leonardi, R., and Nanetti, R. (1993), Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Putman, R.D. (2000), Bowling Alone, New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Scheffler, R., and Brown, T.T.(2008), ‘Social capital, economics, and health: new evidence’, Health Economics Policy and Law 3: 321–331.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schelling, T. (1978), Micromotives and Macrobehavior, New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Shortt, S. E. (2004), ‘Making sense of social capital, health and policy’, Health Policy, 70(1): 11–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Titmuss, R. (1970), The Gift Relationship, London: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Townsend, P., Davidson, N., and Whitehead, M. (eds) (1988), Inequalities in Health: The Black Report and the Health Divide, London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Veblen, T. (1934), The Theory of Leisure Class, New York: Modern Library.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, R. (1992), ‘Income distribution and life expectancy’, British Medical Journal, 304: 165–168.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilkinson, R. (1997), ‘Socioeconomic determinants of health: health inequalities: relative or absolute material standards?’, British Medical Journal, 314: 591–595.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Woolcock, M. (1998), ‘Social capital and economic development: toward a theoretical synthesis and policy framework’, Theory and Society, 27(2):151–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, S. and Allenby, G. (2003), ‘Modeling interdependent consumer preferences’, Journal of Marketing Research, 40(August):282–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar