Being Born Under Adverse Economic Conditions Leads to a Higher Cardiovascular Mortality Rate Later in Life: Evidence Based on Individuals Born at Different Stages of the Business Cycle

Gerard van den Berg, Gabriele Doblhammer () and Kaare Christensen ()
Additional contact information
Gabriele Doblhammer: University of Rostock
Kaare Christensen: University of Southern Denmark

No 3635, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We connect the recent medical and economic literatures on the long-run effects of early-life conditions, by analyzing the effects of economic conditions on the individual cardiovascular (CV) mortality rate later in life, using individual data records from the Danish Twin Registry covering births since the 1870s and including the cause of death. To capture exogenous variation of conditions early in life we use the state of the business cycle around birth. We find a significant negative effect of economic conditions early in life on the individual CV mortality rate at higher ages. There is no effect on the cancer-specific mortality rate. From variation within and between monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs born under different conditions we conclude that the fate of an individual is more strongly determined by genetic and household-environmental factors if early-life conditions are poor. Individual-specific qualities come more to fruition if the starting position in life is better.

Keywords: cancer; cardiovascular disease; life expectancy; recession; health; genetic determinants; longevity; lifetimes; fetal programming; cause of death; developmental origins (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C41 E32 H75 I10 I12 I18 J10 J14 N13 N33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2008-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published - published in: Demography, 48(2) 2011, 507-530

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Related works:
Journal Article: Being Born Under Adverse Economic Conditions Leads to a Higher Cardiovascular Mortality Rate Later in Life: Evidence Based on Individuals Born at Different Stages of the Business Cycle (2011)
Working Paper: Being born under adverse economic conditions leads to a higher cardiovascular mortality rate later in life: evidence based on individuals born at different stages of the business cycle (2008)
Working Paper: Being born under adverse economic conditions leads to a higher cardiovascular mortality rate later in life – evidence based on individuals born at different stages of the business cycle (2008)
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