Business cycle and mortality in Spain

María Cervini-Plá and Judit Vall-Castelló
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Judit Vall-Castelló: Universitat de Barcelona
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Judit Vall Castello

The European Journal of Health Economics, 2021, vol. 22, issue 8, No 10, 1289-1299

Abstract: Abstract In the last couple of decades, there has been a lot of interest on the impact of macroeconomic fluctuations on health and mortality rates. Many studies, for different countries, find that mortality is procyclical. However, studies examining the effects of more recent recessions are less conclusive, finding mortality to be less procyclical, or even countercyclical. In this paper, using data of Spanish provinces from 1999 to 2016, we investigate how this relationship works in the context of a country that is subject to extreme business cycle fluctuations. Furthermore, we analyze the impact of unemployment for different mortality causes and we explore differences by sex, age group and level of education. In general terms, we find mortality to be procyclical so that when the economy is in a recession, mortality falls. When exploring mortality causes, we show that deaths from cardiovascular disease, cancer, senility, transport accidents and homicides are procyclical. By sex, we find procyclicality for both men and women. By age, mortality is procyclical for all age groups; however, the causes of death that result in this procyclical behavior are specific to each age group. By educational level, suicide appears as a countercyclical cause for individuals with intermediate levels of education.

Keywords: Mortality; Health; Recessions; Business cycle (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E32 I10 I12 I14 J14 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10198-021-01336-7

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