Full Citation

Title: Cause of Death and Development in the US

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2013

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI:

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: Exploiting cross-state variation in mortality from flu/pneumonia, tuberculosis, and maternal death, together with the time variation emanating from medical breakthroughs toward the middle of the twentieth century, this research examines the economic repercussions of positive health shocks within US states. It establishes that these shocks, causing the second US mortality revolution, impacted income differently. Specifically, states with higher levels of flu/pneumonia mortality prior to the onset of the era of big medicine experienced faster per capita GDP growth after its onset, while states with higher mortality rates from tuberculosis faced the opposite development. In addition, the relationship between the maternal-mortality shock and GDP per capita is positive, but it appears not to be statistically robust. Taken together, the findings suggest that the total effect of the mortality revolution on income was close to zero. Moreover, as these causes of death had different age distributions, the evidence here instigates the argument that health's impact on economic growth is contingent upon when in life it changes.

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Hansen, Casper W.

Publisher: Aarhus University

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Fertility and Mortality

Countries: