Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics
Working Paper Series,
IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy
No 2008:16: Being born under adverse economic conditions leads to a higher cardiovascular mortality rate later in life – evidence based on individuals born at different stages of the business cycle
Gerard J. van den Berg (), Gabriele Doblhammer-Reiter and Kaare Christensen
Additional contact information
Gerard J. van den Berg: Department of Economics, Free University Amsterdam, Postal: De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Gabriele Doblhammer-Reiter: University of Rostock
Kaare Christensen: University of Southern Denmark
Abstract: We connect the recent medical and economic literatures on the long-run effects of early-life conditions, by analyzing the effects of economic conditions on the individual cardiovascular (CV) mortality rate later in life, using individual data records from the Danish Twin Registry covering births since the 1870s and including the cause of death. To capture exogenous variation of conditions early in life we use the state of the business cycle around birth. We find a significant negative effect of economic conditions early in life on the individual CV mortality rate at higher ages. There is no effect on the cancer-specific mortality rate. From variation within and between monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs born under different conditions we conclude that the fate of an individual is more strongly determined by genetic and household-environmental factors if early-life conditions are poor. Individual-specific qualities come more to fruition if the starting position in life is better.
Keywords: Cardiovascular mortality; early-life conditions
JEL-codes: I10
42 pages, July 7, 2008
Full text files
wp08-16.pdf
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