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Deaths Rise in Good Economic Times: Evidence From the OECD

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Author Info
Ulf-G. Gerdtham
Christopher J. Ruhm

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Abstract

This study uses aggregate data for 23 OECD countries over the 1960-1997 period to examine the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and fatalities. The main finding is that total mortality and deaths from several common causes increase when labor markets strengthen. For instance, controlling for year effects, location fixed effects, country-specific time trends and demographic characteristics, a one percentage point decrease in the national unemployment rate is associated with a 0.4 percent rise in total mortality and 0.4, 1.1, 1.8, 2.1 and 0.8 percent increases in deaths from cardiovascular disease, influenza/pneumonia, liver disease, motor vehicle fatalities and other accidents. These results are consistent with the findings of other recent research and cast doubt on the hypothesis that economic downturns have negative effects on physical health.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 9357.

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Date of creation: Dec 2002
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:9357

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor

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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.:
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Cited by:
(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. Edvard Johansson, 2003. "A Note on Impact of Hours Worked in Mortality in the OECD," Discussion Papers 878, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy. [Downloadable!]
  2. Ruhm, Christopher J., 2003. "Healthy Living in Hard Times," IZA Discussion Papers 711, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Timothy Halliday, 2006. "The Impact of Aggregate and Idiosyncratic Income Shocks on Health Outcomes: Evidence from the PSID," Working Papers 200606, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  4. Svensson, Mikael, 2006. "Don’t Go Breaking your Heart: Do Economic Upturns Really Increase Heart Attack Mortality?," Working Papers 2006:8, Örebro University, Swedish Business School, revised 01 Nov 2006.
  5. Sonia Bhalotra, 2007. "Fatal Fluctuations? Cyclicality in Infant Mortality in India," IZA Discussion Papers 3086, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Petri Böckerman & Edvard Johansson & Satu Helakorpi & Ritva Prättälä & Erkki Vartiainen Antti Uutela, 2005. "Does a Slump Really Make You Thinner? Finnish Micro-level Evidence 1978-2002," Labor and Demography 0505011, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Darby, Julia & Mélitz, Jacques, 2007. "Labour Market Adjustment, Social Spending and the Automatic Stabilizers in the OECD," CEPR Discussion Papers 6230, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Andreas KUHN & Rafael LALIVE & Josef ZWEIMÜLLER, 2007. "The Public Health Costs of Unemployment," Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'Econométrie et d'Economie politique (DEEP) 07.08, Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, DEEP. [Downloadable!]
  9. Timothy Halliday, 2006. "Income Risk and Health," Working Papers 200612, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Katja Hanewald, 2008. "Beyond the business cycle - factors driving aggregate mortality rates," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2008-031, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  11. Christopher J. Ruhm, 2006. "A Healthy Economy Can Break Your Heart," NBER Working Papers 12102, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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