@unpublished {65826,
	title = {The Socioeconomic Gradient in Health: A Cross-National Variable},
	year = {2006},
	note = {Draft prepared for presentation at the Pittsburgh International Conference on Inequality, Health, and Society, convened May 17-19, 2006.},
	month = {May 17, 2006},
	abstract = {The existence of social inequalities in health outcomes is well established in social science research. One strand of research focuses on inequalities in health within a single country. A separate and newer strand of research focuses on the relationship between aggregate inequality and population health across countries. Despite the theorization of (presumably variable) social conditions as "fundamental causes" of health (Link and Phelan 1995), the cross-national literature has focused on population health as the central outcome. Controversies currently surround macro-structural determinants of overall population health such as income inequality (Wilkinson 1996), the welfare state (Conley and Springer 2001), and economic development (Firebaugh and Beck 1994). We argue that these debates would be advanced by conceptualizing inequalities in health as cross-national variables that are sensitive to social conditions. Using data from the third wave of the World Values Survey, we examine cross-national variation in inequalities in health. The results reveal dramatic variation in variations in health according to income and education. We conclude by discussing the policy implications of significant cross-national variability in the socioeconomic gradient.},
	author = {Beckfield, Jason and Olafsdottir, Sigrun}
}
