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Changing Relationship between Unemployment and Mortality in South Korea

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  • Chulhee Lee
  • Kyeongbae Kim

Abstract

Over the period from 1989 to 2012, total mortality in South Korea shifted from being weakly procyclical or unrelated to the economy to strongly countercyclical in the early 2000s. Cancers played a significant role in changing the direction of the effects of unemployment on mortality. The overall pattern of the effects of macroeconomic conditions on mortality in South Korea roughly follows the corresponding changes observed in the United States. We have provided evidence that the sudden change in the relationship between economic conditions and mortality was driven by diseases with higher and rapidly rising treatment costs. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Chulhee Lee & Kyeongbae Kim, 2017. "Changing Relationship between Unemployment and Mortality in South Korea," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(12), pages 1630-1636, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:26:y:2017:i:12:p:1630-1636
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.3460
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Maddalena Cavicchioli & Barbara Pistoresi, 2020. "Unfolding the relationship between mortality, economic fluctuations, and health in Italy," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(3), pages 351-362, April.
    3. Jeon, Mimi & Kim, Seonghoon & Koh, Kanghyock, 2025. "Short-term mortality and healthcare utilization consequences of pension income receipt: Evidence from South Korea," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    4. Zuzana Janko & Gurleen Popli, 2024. "Economic fluctuations and mortality in Canada revisited," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 90(4), pages 878-899, April.

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