Does job loss shorten life?

Marcus Eliason () and Donald Storrie ()
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Donald Storrie: Department of Economics, School of Economics and Commercial Law, Göteborg University, Postal: Box 640, SE 405 30 GÖTEBORG

No 153, Working Papers in Economics from Göteborg University, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper examines the causal effect of job loss on overall and cause-specific mortality. Using linked employer-employee register data, we identified the job losses due to all establishment closures in Sweden in 1987 and 1988. Hence, we have extended the case study approach, which has dominated the plant closure literature, and also been able to remedy most weaknesses associated with previous studies. We found that the overall mortality risk for men was increased by 44 percent during the first four years following job loss. For women and in the longer run we found no effects. The short-run excess mortality was mainly attributed to increased risk of suicides and alcohol-related causes of death. For both sexes, the increase in suicides was about twofold for both men and women, while the increase in alcohol-related causes of death was somewhat less.

Keywords: Plant closure; displaced workers; mortality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 J63 J65 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-edu, nep-hea, nep-lab and nep-ltv
Date: 2004-12-01, Revised 2007-09-17
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Journal Article: Does Job Loss Shorten Life? (2009)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0153

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