Cause-specific mortality as a sentinel indicator of current socioeconomic conditions in Italy

Elisabetta Barbi, Filomena Racioppi and Oliviero Casacchia
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Elisabetta Barbi: Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza
Filomena Racioppi: Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza
Oliviero Casacchia: Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza

Demographic Research, 2018, vol. 39, issue 21, 635-646

Abstract: Background: In the last few years the need for disaggregated statistics at small territorial levels to monitor the social and economic conditions of the various areas of a country has increased considerably. The question of how to define these indicators has been the topic of a recent international debate. Objective: This study aims to assess whether simple, widely available demographic indexes, like mortality measures, may serve as sentinel indicators of economic development and social wellbeing in Italy. Methods: We analyse and compare the geographical patterns of the infant mortality rate and of the mortality rates for leading causes of death with the spatial pattern found for a more complex index, the vulnerability index, recently introduced by the Italian National Institute for Statistics at the provincial level in contemporary Italy. Results: Mortality from leading causes of death such as diseases of the circulatory system, and mortality from increasingly emergent causes of death such as diabetes, may offer a valid statistic to grasp economic development and social wellbeing in Italy today. Conclusions: Our findings are important because policymakers need to rely on indicators with the following fundamental properties: easy availability, clear definition, temporal continuity, and spatial comparability. Contribution: This study contributes to the literature by showing that mortality data is a straightforward and powerful tool to help policymakers plan appropriate interventions.

Keywords: infant mortality; cause-specific mortality; inequalities; socioeconomic indicators; vulnerability index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:demres:v:39:y:2018:i:21

DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2018.39.21

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