Socioeconomic inequality in life expectancy : perception and policy demand

Title page

Contents

Abstract 3

1. Introduction 4

2. Survey and Experimental Design 9

2.1. Measuring Life Expectancy Perceptions 9

2.2. Information Treatment 12

2.3. Outcomes 12

2.4. Properties of the Analytical Sample 15

2.5. Estimation Approach 15

2.6. Follow-up Survey 16

3. Perceptions of Socioeconomic Inequality in Life Expectancy 17

4. Perceptions, Concerns, and Policies: Causal Evidence 22

4.1. Magnitude, Concerns, and General Policy Demand 22

4.2. Robustness 27

4.3. Demand for Specific Policies 28

5. Mechanism Discussion 31

6. Conclusion 35

References 36

Online Appendix 41

A. Appendix Tables and Figures 41

B. Country-specific Results 55

C. Estimates of Actual Life Expectancy 69

Table 1. Information Treatment Effect on Perceived Magnitude, Concerns, and General Policy Demand 25

Table 2. Information Treatment Effect on Demand for Specific Policies 31

Figure 1. Overview of the Survey and the Information Experiment 10

Figure 2. Perceived Life Expectancy of Men and Women in the Bottom 10% and Top 10% of the Income Distribution 18

Figure 3. Distribution of Misperceptions of Socioeconomic Inequality in Life Expectancy 20

Figure 4. Heterogeneity in Perceptions of Socioeconomic Inequality in Life Expectancy 21

Figure 5. Perceived Magnitude, Concerns, and General Policy Demand by Treatment Status 23

Figure 6. Perceived Magnitude, Concerns, and General Policy Demand by Treatment Status along the Distribution of Misperceptions 26

Figure 7. Individual Suggestions for Specific Policies to Improve Life Expectancy of the Poor 29

Figure 8. Heterogeneity of Correlations and Treatment Effects on General Policy Demand 34

Table A-1. Policy Questions 44

Table A-2. Representativeness of the U.S. Sample 45

Table A-3. Representativeness of the German Sample 46

Table A-4. Summary Statistics of Outcomes 47

Table A-5. Summary Statistics and Balance Check for the U.S. Sample 48

Table A-6. Summary Statistics and Balance Check for the German Sample 49

Table A-7. Perceptions of Life Expectancy by Gender and Income 50

Table A-8. Information Treatment Effect on Perceived Magnitude, Concern, and General Policy Demand: Omitting Controls 51

Table A-9. Information Treatment Effect on Perceived Magnitude, Concern, and General Policy Demand: Attention Check Passed vs. Failed 52

Table A-10. Information Treatment Effect on Perceptions, Concerns, and Gerneral Policy Demand in Follow Up Survey 53

Table A-11. Results from the Donation-Lottery 54

Table B-1. Information Treatment Effect on Perceived Magnitude, Concern, and General Policy Demand: United States 65

Table B-2. Information Treatment Effect on Perceived Magnitude, Concern, and General Policy Demand: Germany 66

Table B-3. Information Treatment Effect on Demand for Specific Policies: United States 67

Table B-4. Information Treatment Effect on Demand for Specific Policies: Germany 68

Table C-1. Socioeconomic Inequality in Life Expectancy Estimates for the United States 69

Table C-2. Corrected Socioeconomic Inequality in Life Expectancy Estimates for the United States 70

Table C-3. Socioeconomic Inequality in Life Expectancy Estimates for Germany 71

Table C-4. Corrected Socioeconomic Inequality in Life Expectancy Estimates for Germany 71

Figure A-1. Perceived Magnitude, Concerns, and General Policy Demand by Treatment Status - Shares 41

Figure A-2. Heterogeneity of Correlations and Treatment Effects on Specific Policy Demand 42

Figure A-3. Heterogeneity of General Policy Demand 43

Figure B-1. Responsibility in Reducing Socioeconomic Inequality in Life Expectancy 55

Figure B-2. Distribution of Main Survey Response Times 56

Figure B-3. Average Misperceptions by Treatment Groups 56

Figure B-4. Between-Subject Perceptions about Life Expectancy of Men and Women in the Bottom/Top-10% 57

Figure B-5. Kernel Density Plots of the Distribution of Misperceptions by Monetary Incentivization 58

Figure B-6. Heterogeneity in Misperceptions about Socioeconomic Inequality in Life Expectancy, Percentages 59

Figure B-7. Perceived Magnitude, Concerns, and General Policy Demand by Treatment Status 60

Figure B-8. Perceived Magnitude, Concerns, and General Policy Demand by Treatment Status - Shares 61

Figure B-9. Perceived Magnitude, Concerns, and General Policy Demand by Treatment Status along the Distribution of Misperceptions 62

Figure B-10. Individual Suggestions for Specific Policies to Improve Life Expectancy of the Poor: United States 63

Figure B-11. Individual Suggestions for Specific Policies to Improve Life Expectancy of the Poor: Germany 64