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Why Do Females Live Longer Than Males?

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  • Jean Lemaire

Abstract

In most countries, females live several years longer than males. Many biological and behavioral reasons have been presented in the scientific literature to explain this “female advantage.” A cross-sectional regression study, using 45 explanatory variables and data collected from 169 countries, provides support to the behavioral hypothesis. Four variables, unrelated to biological sex differences, explain over 61% of the variability of the life expectancy differential. One variable (the number of persons per physician) summarizes the degree of economic development of a country. The three other selected variables (the fertility rate, the percentage of Hindus and Buddhists, and Europeans countries of the former Soviet Union) are social/cultural/religious variables. This conclusion is slightly weakened when the presence of spatial autocorrelation in the data is specifically acknowledged.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean Lemaire, 2002. "Why Do Females Live Longer Than Males?," North American Actuarial Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(4), pages 21-37.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:uaajxx:v:6:y:2002:i:4:p:21-37
    DOI: 10.1080/10920277.2002.10596061
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    Cited by:

    1. Mathieu Nacher & Célia Basurko & Laure Manuella Imounga & Qiannan Wang & Astrid Van Melle & Aude Lucarelli & Antoine Adenis & Kinan Drak Alsibai & Najeh Hcini & Nadia Sabbah, 2023. "Complex Sex Differences in Life Expectancy in French Guiana," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(13), pages 1-14, June.

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