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Mortality and the Business Cycle: Evidence from Individual and Aggregated Data

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  • van den Berg, Gerard J.

    (University of Groningen)

  • Gerdtham, Ulf-G.

    (Lund University)

  • von Hinke, Stephanie

    (University of Bristol)

  • Lindeboom, Maarten

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

  • Lissdaniels, Johannes

    (Lund University)

  • Sundquist, Jan

    (Lund University)

  • Sundquist, Kristina

    (Lund University)

Abstract

There has been much interest recently in the relationship between economic conditions and mortality, with some studies showing that mortality is pro-cyclical whereas others find the opposite. Some suggest that the aggregation level of analysis (e.g. individual vs. regional) matters. We use both individual and aggregated data on a sample of 20-64 year-old Swedish men from 1993 to 2007. Our results show that the association between the business cycle and mortality does not depend on the level of analysis: the sign and magnitude of the parameter estimates are similar at the individual level and the aggregate (county) level; both showing pro-cyclical mortality.

Suggested Citation

  • van den Berg, Gerard J. & Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & von Hinke, Stephanie & Lindeboom, Maarten & Lissdaniels, Johannes & Sundquist, Jan & Sundquist, Kristina, 2017. "Mortality and the Business Cycle: Evidence from Individual and Aggregated Data," IZA Discussion Papers 10809, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10809
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    19. van den Berg, Gerard J. & Paul, Alexander & Reinhold, Steffen, 2018. "Econometric analysis of the effects of economic conditions on the health of newborns," Working Paper Series 2018:24, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    aggregation; income; death; recession; health; unemployment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E3 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

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