Are recessions really good for your health? Evidence from Canada

Hideki Ariizumi and Tammy Schirle

Social Science & Medicine, 2012, vol. 74, issue 8, 1224-1231

Abstract: This study investigates the relationship between business cycle fluctuations and health in the Canadian context, given that a procyclical relationship between mortality rates and unemployment rates has already been well established in the U.S. literature. Using a fixed effects model and provincial data over the period 1977–2009, we estimate the effect of unemployment rates on Canadian age and gender specific mortality rates. Consistent with U.S. results, there is some evidence of a strong procyclical pattern in the mortality rates of middle-aged Canadians. We find that a one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate lowers the predicted mortality rate of individuals in their 30s by nearly 2 percent. In contrast to the U.S. data, we do not find a significant cyclical pattern in the mortality rates of infants and seniors.

Keywords: Unemployment; Business Cycles; Health; Mortality; Canada (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (48)

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Working Paper: Are Recessions Really Good for Your Health? Evidence from Canada (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:74:y:2012:i:8:p:1224-1231

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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.12.038

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