An Anatomy of Old-age Disability: Time Use, Affect and Experienced Utility

Type Journal Article - Journal of Health Economics
Title An Anatomy of Old-age Disability: Time Use, Affect and Experienced Utility
Author(s)
Volume 44
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2015
Page numbers 150-160
URL https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jurgen_Maurer/publication/282400891_An_Anatomy_of_Old-Age_Disab​ility_Time_Use_Affect_and_Experienced_Utility/links/56293f1908ae04c2aeaef426.pdf
Abstract
Complementing the commonly used concepts of evaluative wellbeing and decision utility, emotional wellbeing and experienced utility are important welfare criteria to assess individuals’ subjective wellbeing, especially for valuing health and disability. Yet, almost all empirical evidences on the link between disability and experienced wellbeing come from developed countries. This paper studies the relationship between old-age disability and experienced utility in five low- and middle-income countries. Using data on individual time use and activity-specific affective experiences from an abbreviated version of the Day Reconstruction Method, we document a strong negative association between disability and experienced utility. These differences in experienced utility by disability status are exclusively due to worse activityspecific affective experiences among persons with disabilities. By contrast, disability-related differences in time use provide small compensating effects. Interventions or technologies thatfacilitate daily life hold most promise to improve experienced utility among persons with disabilities in the developing world.

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