Working Paper: NBER ID: w21114
Authors: Mark R. Cullen; Michael Baiocchi; Karen Eggleston; Pooja Loftus; Victor Fuchs
Abstract: Sex differences in mortality (SDIM) vary over time and place as a function of social, health, and medical circumstances. The magnitude of these variations, and their response to large socioeconomic changes, suggest that biological differences cannot fully account for sex differences in survival. We document “stylized facts” about SDIM with which any theory will have to contend. We draw on a wide swath of mortality data, including probability of survival to age 70 by county in the United States, the Human Mortality Database data for 18 high-income countries since 1900, and mortality data within and across developing countries over time periods for which reasonably reliable data are available. We show that, in each of the periods of economic development after the onset of demographic and epidemiologic transition, cross-sectional variation in SDIM exhibits a consistent pattern of female resilience to mortality under adversity. Moreover, as societies develop, M/F survival first declines and then increases, a “SDIM transition” embedded within the demographic and epidemiologic transitions.
Keywords: Mortality; Sex Differences; Socioeconomic Factors
JEL Codes: I14; I15; J10; J16
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| socioeconomic conditions (P36) | sex differences in mortality (SDIM) (I12) |
| socioeconomic conditions (P36) | female resilience to mortality (I14) |
| socioeconomic conditions (P36) | male mortality rates (I12) |
| historical data (Y10) | sex differences in mortality (SDIM) (I12) |
| economic development (O29) | female mortality resilience (J19) |
| economic development (O29) | male mortality rates (I12) |
| socioeconomic conditions (P36) | survival rates of women (J12) |
| socioeconomic conditions (P36) | vulnerability of men to adverse conditions (I12) |