Working Paper: NBER ID: w29321
Authors: Tatyana Deryugina; David Molitor
Abstract: Life expectancy varies substantially across local regions within a country, raising conjectures that place of residence affects health. However, population sorting and other confounders make it difficult to disentangle the effects of place on health from other geographic differences in life expectancy. Recent studies have overcome such challenges to demonstrate that place of residence substantially influences health and mortality. Whether policies that encourage people to move to places that are better for their health or that improve areas that are detrimental to health are desirable depends on the mechanisms behind place effects, yet these mechanisms remain poorly understood.
Keywords: health; longevity; place effects; mortality; geographic variation
JEL Codes: H75; I1; R1
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| percentage of the population that exercises (I14) | life expectancy (J17) |
| smoking rate (I12) | life expectancy (J17) |
| obesity rates (I14) | life expectancy (J17) |
| number of physicians per capita (I11) | life expectancy (J17) |
| number of hospital beds per capita (I11) | life expectancy (J17) |
| air quality (PM2.5 concentrations) (Q53) | life expectancy (J17) |
| geographic sorting of individuals (R23) | life expectancy (J17) |
| place (R32) | life expectancy (J17) |