Are Recessions Good for Everyone's Health? The Association Between Mortality and the Business Cycle by Race in the U.S

Matías Fontenla, Fidel Gonzalez and Troy Quast ()
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Troy Quast: Department of Economics and International Business, Sam Houston State University

No 902, Working Papers from Sam Houston State University, Department of Economics and International Business

Abstract: In this paper we study the effect of the business cycle on the mortality rate of the major racial groups in the U.S. Using county-level data from 1999 to 2005, we find that the unemployment rate is negatively related to mortality for whites and latinos but that there is not a statistically significant relationship for blacks. Moreover, the magnitude of this relationship is larger for latinos than for whites. Finally, the relationship becomes more pronounced for latinos and whites as the proportion of population of that race increases. Taken together, these findings suggest that the procyclical association between mortality and the business cycle identified in previous studies of the general U.S. population may vary by race.

Date: 2009-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-mac
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:shs:wpaper:0902

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