Healthcare Consumption among Chinese Residents: Total Expenditure and Inequality — An Analysis from the Income Sources Perspective

Abstract

Abstract: Exploring the relationship between residents'healthcare consumption, inequality, and income from different sources from the perspective of income sources is of great practical significance for the implementation of the“Healthy China”strategy. Based on the theory of psychological accounts, this study examines the impact of different income sources on healthcare consumption and inequality among Chinese residents. Research has found that the residents'transfer income and property income have a greater impact on healthcare consumption than their operating income and wage income. The type of work and education level of residents have a moderating effect on their marginal propensity to consume healthcare. In addition, whether the residents'transfer income includes social donations, and whether their property income includes financial investment returns, also have heterogeneous effects on their marginal propensity to consume healthcare. Medical expenses mainly manifest as the depreciation effect of health capital, while healthcare expenses mainly manifest as the income wealth effect. All types of income contribute to narrowing the inequality in healthcare consumption, but the level of inequality within urban residents is still higher than that among rural residents. The government should dynamically adjust the transfer payment standards based on the heterogeneity of income sources and guide the allocation of health financial assets. At the same time, by improving health literacy and optimizing the layout of medical resources, the gap between urban and rural areas should be precisely narrowed to promote consumption equality.

Key words: source of income, healthcare consumption, Gini coefficient, ELES model, RIF regression decomposition

CLC Number:

F063.2

Tao Chun-hai, Leng Wen-jie, Wu Shi-mei. Healthcare Consumption among Chinese Residents: Total Expenditure and Inequality — An Analysis from the Income Sources Perspective[J]. Journal of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, 2026, 0(2): 60-72.

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