Education and health in the Czech Republic

Researchers in the United States have found that education and health are r elated. This relation may be due to the better market position of the educa ted, their greater store of personal and social resources, and/or their hea lthier lifestyle. These three connections between education and health are tested in the Czech Republic with three waves of panel data. We regress sel f-reports of health and physical functioning in 1994 on multiple indicators of market position in 1994, change in market position from 1989 to 1994 pe rsonal/social resources and health lifestyle with demographic controls. The se regressions are followed by a longitudinal analysis of changes in panel members' health and physical functioning between 1994 and 1996. The cross-s ectional results are similar to those in the United States with important e xceptions. Unlike the United Stales, market position does fully mediate the relation between education and health in the Czech Republic, largely throu gh subjective feelings regarding market position. The longitudinal analysis shows that prior health and physical functioning mediate the effect of edu cation on health and physical functioning in 1996.