Gender longevity gap and socioeconomic indicators in developed countries

Igor Fedotenkov and Pavel Derkachev
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Павел Деркачев

International Journal of Social Economics, 2020, vol. 47, issue 1, 127-144

Abstract: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explain relations between socioeconomic factors and gender longevity gap and to test a number of contradicting theories. Design/methodology/approach - Fixed effects models are used for cross-country panel data analysis. Findings - The authors show that in developed countries (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and European Union) a lower gender longevity gap is associated with a higher real GDP per capita, a higher level of urbanization, lower income inequality, lower per capita alcohol consumption and a better ecological environment. An increase in women’s aggregate unemployment rate and a decline in men’s unemployment are associated with a higher gap in life expectancies. There is also some evidence that the effect of the share of women in parliaments has a U-shape; it has a better descriptive efficiency if taken with a four-year lag, which approximately corresponds to the length of political cycles. Research limitations/implications - Findings are valid only for developed countries. Practical implications - The findings are important for policy discussions, such as designs of pension schemes, gender-based taxation, ecological, urban, health and labor policy. Social implications - The factors that increase male and female longevities also reduce the gender longevity gap. Originality/value - The results contradict to a number of studies for developing countries, which show that lower economic development and greater women discrimination result in a lower gender longevity gap. Peer review - The peer review history for this article is available at:https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-02-2019-0082

Keywords: Inequality; Life expectancy; Cross-country analysis; Gender longevity gap; J11; J14; J16; J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Working Paper: Gender longevity gap and socioeconomic indicators in developed countries (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:ijsepp:ijse-02-2019-0082

DOI: 10.1108/IJSE-02-2019-0082

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