The Effect of Relative Standing on Self-Perceived Health among Europeans Aged 50 or Older

Abstract

In order to identify determinants of health among individuals older than 50 years, we use panel data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) year 2011/2012 and 2014 to estimate the e ect of relative standing on self-reported health. Relative standing is de ned as the di erence between an individual's net worth and the median net worth in his or her reference group. Using panel data enables us to control for unobserved individual heterogeneity which mitigates potential endogeneity issues. The results suggest that the e ect of relative standing with respect to net worth is signi cant and robust across di erent speci cations.