Ichiro Kawachi M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Society, Human Development and Health
Harvard School of Public Health
Email: ikawachi@hsph.harvard.edu
Discipline: Epidemiology
Expertise: Health Care Inequalities, Public and Population Health
Investigator Award 
Income Inequality, Social Capital, and Health: A New SynthesisAward Year: 1996 Inequalities in health by socioeconomic status (SES) are large, pervasive, persistent, and widening. Most theories attempting to explain them use individual-level indicators of SES such as income, educational attainment, or occupation. In contrast, this project builds on a new hypothesis of unequal distribution of income as a determinant of health. Drs. Kawachi and Kennedy: (1) examine the relationship between income inequality and mortality at different points in time (1960 through 1990) and at different levels of analysis (state, MSA, county, individual); 2) outline a new theory of the production of health through social and political capital and demonstrate linkages between income inequality and varying access to these forms of capital; and 3) develop a conceptual definition of social capital, exploring its role as an intermediary variable between income inequality and mortality.
Background 
Ichiro Kawachi is professor of social epidemiology and chair of the department of Society, Human Development, and Health. He is also the director of the Harvard Center for Society and Health, both at the Harvard School of Public Health. Kawachi received his M.D. and Ph.D., both from the University of Otago, New Zealand. Dr. Kawachi's research has focused on uncovering the social and economic determinants of population health. He is the author with Bruce Kennedy and Richard Wilkinson of Reader on Income Inequality and Health, (The New Press, 1999) and The Health of Nations with Bruce Kennedy, (The New Press, 2002) . He is the co-editor (with Lisa Berkman) of the first textbook on Social Epidemiology, published by Oxford University Press in 2000 and also co-editor (with Lisa Berkman) on the book Neighborhoods and Health, published by Oxford University Press, 2003. Dr. Kawachi has taught internationally, in Australia, Mexico, Chile, Taiwan, and New Zealand. He is a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the Pan-American Health Organization/WHO. Kawachi serves as the Senior Editor (Social Epidemiology) of the journal Social Science & Medicine, as well as Editor pro tem of the American Journal of Epidemiology.
- Kawachi, I. Why the U.S. Is Not Number One in Health, In Healthy, Wealthy and Fair: Health Care for a Good Society, eds. Brown, L.D., Jacobs, L., Morone, J. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
- Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B.P. Health and Social Cohesion, In The Society and Population Health Reader: Income Inequality and Health, eds. Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B.P., Wilkinson, R. The New Press, 1999.
- Phelan, J.C., Link, B.G., Diez-Roux, A., Kawachi, I., Levin, B. 'Fundamental Causes' of Social Inequalities in Mortality: A Test of the Theory. J of Health and Social Behavior, 2005, 45(3): 265-85.
- Kawachi, I., Daniels, N., Robinson, D.E. Health Disparities by Race and Class: Why Both Matter. Health Affairs, 2005, 24(2): 343-52.
- Gold, R., Kennedy, B., Connell, F., Kawachi, I. Teen Births, Income Inequality, and Social Capital: Developing an Understanding of the Causal Pathway. Health and Place, 2002, 8(2): 77-83.
- Subramania, S.V., Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B.P. Does the State you Live in Make a Difference? Mutilevel Analysis of Self-Rated Health in the U.S. Social Science and Medicine, 2001, 53(1): 9-19.
- Gold, R., Kawachi, I., Kennendy, B.P., Lynch, J.W., Connell, F.A. Ecological Analysis of Teen Birth Rates: Association with Community Income and Income Inequality. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 2001, 5(3): 161-7.
- Hemenway, D., Kennedy, B.P., Kawachi, I., Putnam, R.D. Firearm Prevalence and Social Capital. Annals of Epidemiology, 2001, 11(7): 484-90.
- Blakely, T.A., Kennedy, B.P., Kawachi, I. Socioeconomic Inequality in Voting Participation and Self-Rated Health. AJPH, 2001, 91(1): 99-104.
- Lochner K, Pamuk E, Makuc D, Kennedy BP, Kawachi I. State-Level Income Inequality and Individual Mortality Risk: A Prospective, Multilevel Study. Am J Public Health, 2001 Mar, 91(3):385-91.
- Kahn, R.S., Wise, P.H., Kennedy, B.P., Kawachi, I. State Income Inequality, Household Income, and Maternal Mental and Physical Health: Cross Sectional National Survey. BMJ, 2000, 321(7272): 1311-5.
- Blakely, T.A., Kennedy, B.P., Glass, R., Kawachi, I. What Is the Lag Time between Income Inequality and Health Status? J of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2000, 54(4): 318-9.
- Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B. Income Inequality and Health: Pathways and Mechanisms. Health Services Research, 1999, 34(1): 215-27.
- Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B., Glass, R. Social Capital and Self-Rated Health: A Contextual Analysis. AJPH, 1999, 89(8): 1187-93.
- Lochner, K., Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B.P. Social Capital: A guide to Its Measurement. Health and Place, 1999, 5(4): 259-70.
- Daniels, N., Kennedy, B.P., Kawachi, I. Why Justice is Good for our Health. Daedalus, 1999, 128(4): 215-51.
- Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B.P., Gupta, V., Prothrow-Stith, D. Women's Status and the Health of Women and Men: A view from the States. Social Science and Medicine, 1999, 48(1): 21-32.
- Kennedy, B.P., Kawachi, I., Glass, R., Prothrow-Stith, D. Income Distribution, Socioeconomic Status, and Self Rated Health in the U.S.. BMJ, 1998, 317(7263): 917-21.
- Kennedy, B.P., Kawachi, I., Prothrow-Stith, D., Lochner, K., Gupta, V. Social Capital, Income Inequality, and Firearm Violent Crime. Social Science and Medicine, 1998, 47(1): 7-17.
- Kennedy, B.P., Kawachi, I., Lochner, K., Jones, C., Prothrow-Stith, D.Ê(Dis)respect and Black Mortality.ÊEthnicity and Disease, 1997, 7(3): 207-14.
- Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B.P.ÊHealth and Social Cohesion: Why Care about Income Inequality?ÊBMJ, 1997, 314(7086): 1037-40.
- Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B.P., Lochner, K.ÊLong Live Community: Social Capital as Public Health.ÊThe American Prospect, Nov/Dec 1997, 35: 56-9.
- Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B.P., Lochner, K., Prothrow-Stith, D.ÊSocial Capital, Income Inequality, and Mortality.ÊAJPH, 1997, 87(9): 1491-8.
- Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B.P.ÊThe Relationship of Income Inequality to Mortality: Does the Choice of Indicator Matter.ÊSocial Science and Medicine, 1997, 45(7): 1121-7.