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Autopsy on an Empire: Understanding Mortality in Russia and the Former Soviet Union

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Author Info
Elizabeth Brainerd
David M. Cutler

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Abstract

Male life expectancy at birth fell by over six years in Russia between 1989 and 1994. Many other countries of the former Soviet Union saw similar declines, and female life expectancy fell as well. Using cross-country and Russian household survey data, we assess six possible explanations for this upsurge in mortality. Most find little support in the data: the deterioration of the health care system, changes in diet and obesity, and material deprivation fail to explain the increase in mortality rates. The two factors that do appear to be important are alcohol consumption, especially as it relates to external causes of death (homicide, suicide, and accidents) and stress associated with a poor outlook for the future. However, a large residual remains to be explained.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 10868.

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Date of creation: Nov 2004
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10868

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I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
P0 - Economic Systems - - General

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Ellman, Michael, 1994. "The Increase in Death and Disease under "Katastroika."," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 329-55, August.
  2. Andrei Shleifer & Daniel Treisman, 2003. "A Normal Country," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 2019, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Jan Rutkowski, 1996. "High skills pay off: the changing wage structure during economic transition in Poland," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 4(1), pages 89-112, 05. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Robert J. Flanagan, 1995. "Wage Structure in the Transition of the Czech Economy," IMF Working Papers 95/36, International Monetary Fund.
  5. Stillman, Steven & Thomas, Duncan, 2004. "The Effect of Economic Crises on Nutritional Status: Evidence from Russia," IZA Discussion Papers 1092, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  6. Brainerd, Elizabeth, 1998. "Winners and Losers in Russia's Economic Transition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(5), pages 1094-1116, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Lawrence King & Patrick Hamm, 2005. "Privatization and State Capacity in Postcommunist Society," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp806, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross Business School. [Downloadable!]
  2. Karen Macours & Johan Swinnen, 2006. "Rural Poverty in Transition Countries," LICOS Discussion Papers 16906, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, K.U.Leuven. [Downloadable!]
  3. Gorodnichenko, Yuriy & Sabirianova Peter, Klara & Stolyarov, Dmitriy, 2009. "Inequality and Volatility Moderation in Russia: Evidence from Micro-Level Panel Data on Consumption and Income," IZA Discussion Papers 4233, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Patrick Hamm & David Stuckler & Lawrence King, 2006. "Mass Privatization and the Postcommunist Mortality Crisis," Working Papers wp118, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst. [Downloadable!]
  5. Olga Lazareva, 2009. "Health Effects of Occupational Change," Working Papers w0129, Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR). [Downloadable!]
  6. Easterlin, Richard A., 2008. "Lost in Transition: Life Satisfaction on the Road to Capitalism," IZA Discussion Papers 3409, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  7. Guriev, Sergei & Zhuravskaya, Ekaterina, 2009. "(Un)Happiness in Transition," CEPR Discussion Papers 7258, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. David Stuckler & Lawrence P. King, 2007. "Social Costs of Mass Privatization," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp890, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross Business School. [Downloadable!]
  9. Herzfeld, Thomas & Huffman, Sonya K. & Oskam, Arie A. & Rizov, Marian, 2009. "Changes in Food, Alcohol and Cigarettes Consumption during Transition: Evidence from Russia," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49239, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. [Downloadable!]
  10. Natalia Gavrilova & Victoria Semyonova & Elena Dubrovina & Galina Evdokushkina & Alla Ivanova & Leonid Gavrilov, 2008. "Russian Mortality Crisis and the Quality of Vital Statistics," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer, vol. 27(5), pages 551-574, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Lokshin, Michael & Ravallion, Martin, 2005. "Searching for the economic gradient in self-assessed health," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3698, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  12. Michael Lokshin & Martin Ravallion, 2008. "Testing for an economic gradient in health status using subjective data," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(11), pages 1237-1259. [Downloadable!]
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