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Deaths rise in good economic times: evidence from the OECD.

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Author

Summary, in English

This study uses aggregate data for 23 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries over the 1960-1997 period to examine the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and deaths. The main finding is that total mortality and deaths from several common causes rise when labor markets strengthen. For instance, controlling for year effects, location fixed-effects (FE), country-specific time trends and demographic characteristics, a 1% point decrease in the national unemployment rate is associated with growth of 0.4% in total mortality and the following increases in cause-specific mortality: 0.4% for cardiovascular disease, 1.1% for influenza/pneumonia, 1.8% for liver disease, 2.1% for motor vehicle deaths, and 0.8% for other accidents. These effects are particularly pronounced for countries with weak social insurance systems, as proxied by public social expenditure as a share of GDP. The findings are consistent with evidence provided by other recent research and cast doubt on the hypothesis that economic downturns have negative effects on physical health. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Publishing year

2006

Language

English

Pages

298-316

Publication/Series

Economics and Human Biology

Volume

4

Issue

3

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Elsevier

Topic

  • Environmental Health and Occupational Health

Keywords

  • health
  • business cycles
  • mortality

Status

Published

Research group

  • Social Epidemiology

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1873-6130