AUTHOR=Xu Pei , Ye Penghao 

TITLE=The Impact of Foreign Trade on Health Inequality in China: Evidence From China Family Panel Studies (CFPS)

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 67 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2022.1605117

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2022.1605117

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=Using the GMM model, this paper studies the health inequality in China by differing the direct and indirect impacts caused by foreign trade using individual self-rated health data from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). The study primarily reveals that: Firstly, the direct effect of foreign trade will not contribute to the current health inequality, while the indirect effects of trade can contribute to health inequality through inequalities in income and health care utilization, but the indirect pollution effect of trade does not cause health inequality. Subsequently, the direct effect of trade aggravates the dynamic expansion trend of health inequality, whereas the indirect effects of trade, including household income per capita and medical level, alleviate the increasing trend of health inequality. Moreover, the mediating effect of environmental pollution on the trend of health inequality is almost negligible. Some actions to reduce the health inequality caused by foreign trade are advised to be adopted, including optimizing product structure of trade, adjusting income distribution, and enhancing medical securities for low-income groups.