New estimates of the demand for health: results based on a categorical health measure and Swedish micro data

In this paper we estimate a "Grossman" model of demand for health based on Swedish micro data. The data set consists of a random sample of over 5000 i ndividuals taken from the Swedish adult population. Health capital is measu red bq a categorical measure of overall health status, and an ordered probi t model is used to econometrically estimate the demand for health equation. The results are consistent with the theoretical predictions and show that the demand for health increases with income and education and decreases wit h age, male gender, overweight, living in big cities and being single. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.