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

26 Pages Posted: 5 Jun 2017

See all articles by Gerard J. van den Berg

Gerard J. van den Berg

University of Groningen; VU University Amsterdam - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); IZA Institute of Labor Economics; Tinbergen Institute

Ulf Gerdtham

Lund University - Faculty of Medicine

Stephanie von Hinke

University of Bristol; Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE)

Maarten Lindeboom

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Tinbergen Institute Amsterdam; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Johannes Lissdaniels

Lund University

Jan Sundquist

Lund University - Center for Primary Health Care Research

Kristina Sundquist

Lund University - Center for Primary Health Care Research

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.

Keywords: unemployment, health, recession, death, income, aggregation

JEL Classification: E3, I1, I12

Suggested Citation

van den Berg, Gerard J. and Gerdtham, Ulf and von Hinke, Stephanie and Lindeboom, Maarten and Lissdaniels, Johannes and Sundquist, Jan and Sundquist, Kristina, Mortality and the Business Cycle: Evidence from Individual and Aggregated Data. IZA Discussion Paper No. 10809, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2979956 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2979956

Gerard J. Van den Berg (Contact Author)

University of Groningen ( email )

P.O. Box 800
9700 AH Groningen, Groningen 9700 AV
Netherlands

VU University Amsterdam - Department of Economics ( email )

De Boelelaan 1105
1081 HV Amsterdam
Netherlands
+31 20 444 6132 (Phone)
+32 20 444 6020 (Fax)

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Tinbergen Institute

Burg. Oudlaan 50
Rotterdam, 3062 PA
Netherlands

Ulf Gerdtham

Lund University - Faculty of Medicine ( email )

Box 117
SE-221 00 Lund
Sweden

Stephanie Von Hinke

University of Bristol

University of Bristol,
Senate House, Tyndall Avenue
Bristol, Avon BS8 ITH
United Kingdom

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam, NL 3062 PA
Netherlands

Maarten Lindeboom

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam ( email )

De Boelelaan 1105
1081 HV Amsterdam
Netherlands
+31 20 444 6033 (Phone)
+31 20 444 6020 (Fax)

Tinbergen Institute Amsterdam

Gustav Mahlerplein 117
Amsterdam, 1082 MS
Netherlands

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Johannes Lissdaniels

Lund University

Box 117
Lund, SC Skane S221 00
Sweden

Jan Sundquist

Lund University - Center for Primary Health Care Research ( email )

Kristina Sundquist

Lund University - Center for Primary Health Care Research ( email )

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