title: A discrete choice decomposition analysis of racial and ethnic differences in children's health insurance coverage.
abstract: This paper presents a multivariate decomposition analysis of racial and ethnic differences in children's health insurance using the 2004-2005 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. We present two methodological contributions. First, we adapt a recently-developed matching decomposition method for use with sample-weighted data. Second, we develop a fully nonparametric approach that implements decomposition through weight adjustments. Accounting for the black-white wealth gap: a nonparametric approach. Journal of the American Statistical Association 97, 663-673]. Differences in observed characteristics explain large percentages of racial and ethnic coverage differences. Important contributors include poverty levels, parent education, family structure (for black children), and immigration-related factors (for Hispanic children). We also examine racial and ethnic differences in parent offers of employer-sponsored insurance and in children's coverage conditional on having a parent offer. Comparison of our linear, nonlinear, and nonparametric results suggests researchers may face a trade-off between robustness and precision when selecting among decomposition methodologies for discrete outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Social and Scientific Systems, 8757 Georgia Avenue, 12th Floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910, United States.
authors.forename: Yuriy
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pylypchuk
authors.affiliation: Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850, United States.
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Selden
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003625:Data Collection; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007348:Insurance, Health; D008297:Male; D044469:Racial Groups; D014481:United States