This essay contributes in two ways to the literature on the effects of economic circumstances on health. First, it deals with reverse causality and omitted variable bias by exploiting exogenous variation in inherited wealth generated by the unexpected repeal of the Swedish inheritance tax....

We study income responses to income tax changes by using a large panel of Swedish tax payers over the period 1991-2002. Changes in statutory tax rates as well as dis-cretionary changes in tax bracket thresholds provide exogenous variations in tax rates that can be used to identify income...