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Mortality Inequality

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  • Sam Peltzman

Abstract

The paper describes how changes in the inequality of lifetimes have contributed to changes in the social distribution of welfare. I address the following questions: How can we measure inequality of lifetimes? How has this kind of inequality changed over time? How is this inequality related to increased longevity? How do these trends differ across and within countries? Unequal longevity was once a major source of social inequality, perhaps even more important in some sense than income inequality, for a long time. But over the last century, this inequality has declined drastically in high-income countries and is now comparatively trivial.

Suggested Citation

  • Sam Peltzman, 2009. "Mortality Inequality," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(4), pages 175-190, Fall.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:jecper:v:23:y:2009:i:4:p:175-90
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/jep.23.4.175
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    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jep.23.4.175
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Simon Kuznets & Elizabeth Jenks, 1953. "Shares of Upper Income Groups in Savings," NBER Chapters, in: Shares of Upper Income Groups in Income and Savings (1953), pages 171-218, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Gary S. Becker & Tomas J. Philipson & Rodrigo R. Soares, 2005. "The Quantity and Quality of Life and the Evolution of World Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 277-291, March.
    3. Simon Kuznets & Elizabeth Jenks, 1953. "Shares of Upper Income Groups in Income and Savings (1953)," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number kuzn53-1, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Guglielmo Maria Caporale & Juan Infante & Marta Rio & Luis A. Gil-Alana, 2023. "Persistence in UK Historical Data on Life Expectancy," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(4), pages 1-11, August.
    2. Weil, David N., 2014. "Health and Economic Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 3, pages 623-682, Elsevier.
    3. Joseph T. Lariscy & Claudia Nau & Glenn Firebaugh & Robert A. Hummer, 2016. "Hispanic-White Differences in Lifespan Variability in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(1), pages 215-239, February.
    4. Konstantinos N. Zafeiris, 2023. "Greece since the 1960s: the mortality transition revisited: a joinpoint regression analysis," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 1-31, March.
    5. Lionel Kesztenbaum & Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, 2014. "Income versus Sanitation; Mortality Decline in Paris, 1880-1914," PSE Working Papers halshs-01018594, HAL.
    6. Baland,Jean-Marie & Cassan,Guilhem & Decerf,Benoit Marie A, 2022. "Integrating Mortality into Poverty Measurement through the Poverty Adjusted Life Expectancy Index," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10133, The World Bank.
    7. Sushanta K. Mallick, 2014. "Disentangling the Poverty Effects of Sectoral Output, Prices, and Policies in India," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(4), pages 773-801, December.
    8. Vanesa Jordá & Miguel Niño-Zarazúa, 2017. "Global inequality in length of life: 1950–2015," WIDER Working Paper Series 192, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Jean-Marie Baland & Guilhem Cassan & Benoit Decerf, 2021. "The Poverty-Adjusted Life Expectancy index: a consistent aggregation of the quantity and the quality of life," DeFiPP Working Papers 2101, University of Namur, Development Finance and Public Policies.
    10. Skare, Marinko & Porada-Rochoń, Małgorzata, 2022. "Technology and social equality in the United States," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    11. Prodromos Prodromidis, 2021. "Analysing the Economic Output and Human Loss Patterns Across the EU and Neighboring States During the Pandemic," South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics, Association of Economic Universities of South and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea Region, vol. 19(2), pages 107-127.
    12. Duncan Gillespie & Meredith Trotter & Shripad Tuljapurkar, 2014. "Divergence in Age Patterns of Mortality Change Drives International Divergence in Lifespan Inequality," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(3), pages 1003-1017, June.
    13. Glenn Firebaugh & Francesco Acciai & Aggie Noah & Christopher Prather & Claudia Nau, 2014. "Why Lifespans Are More Variable Among Blacks Than Among Whites in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(6), pages 2025-2045, December.
    14. Kesztenbaum, Lionel & Rosenthal, Jean-Laurent, 2017. "Sewers’ diffusion and the decline of mortality: The case of Paris, 1880–1914," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 174-186.
    15. Claudia Nau & Glenn Firebaugh, 2012. "A New Method for Determining Why Length of Life is More Unequal in Some Populations Than in Others," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(4), pages 1207-1230, November.
    16. Vanesa Jorda & Miguel Niño-Zarazúa, 2017. "Global inequality in length of life, 1950-2015," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-192, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Milevsky, Moshe A., 2020. "Swimming with wealthy sharks: longevity, volatility and the value of risk pooling," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 217-246, April.
    18. Gregori Galofre-Vila & Maria Gomez-Leon, 2021. "Provincial health inequalities in Spain since 1860," Documentos de Trabajo - Lan Gaiak Departamento de Economía - Universidad Pública de Navarra 2103, Departamento de Economía - Universidad Pública de Navarra.
    19. Hampton Gray Gaddy, 2021. "A decade of TFR declines suggests no relationship between development and sub-replacement fertility rebounds," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 44(5), pages 125-142.
    20. Sam Peltzman, 2014. "Socialized medicine and mortality," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 179-205, September.
    21. Kurt Sartorius & Benn Sartorius, 2016. "Service delivery inequality in South African municipal areas: A new way to account for inter-jurisdictional differences," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(15), pages 3336-3355, November.
    22. Petar Stankov, 2017. "Economic Freedom and Welfare Before and After the Crisis," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-319-62497-6, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

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