title: Public or private? The role of the state and civil society in health and health inequalities across nations.
abstract: Social scientists have long recognized that macro-level factors have the potential to shape the health of populations and individuals. Along these lines, they have theorized about the role of the welfare state in creating more equal opportunities and outcomes and how this intervention may benefit health. More recently, scholars and policymakers alike have pointed out how the involvement of civil society actors may replace or complement any state effort. Using data from the World Values Surveys and the European Values Study, combined with national-level indicators for welfare state and civil society involvement, we test the impact of each sector on health and health inequalities in 25 countries around the world. We find that both have a statistically significant effect on overall health, but the civil society sector may have a greater independent influence in societies with weaker welfare states. The health inequalities results are less conclusive, but suggest a strong civil society may be particularly beneficial to vulnerable populations, such as the low income and unemployed. Our paper represents an early step in providing empirical evidence for the impact of the welfare state and civil society on health and health inequalities.
authors.affiliation: Boston University, Department of Sociology, 96 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, United States. Electronic address: sigrun@bu.edu.
authors.forename: Sigrun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Olafsdottir
authors.affiliation: Boston University, Department of Sociology, 96 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, United States. Electronic address: elyas@bu.edu.
authors.forename: Elyas
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bakhtiari
authors.affiliation: Boston University, Department of Sociology, 96 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, United States. Electronic address: eabarman@bu.edu.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D033161:Government Regulation; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017149:Private Sector; D017150:Public Sector; D012946:Social Welfare
keywords: Civil society; Cross-national research; Health inequalities; Welfare state