Demography

, Volume 44, Issue 4, pp 829–848 | Cite as

A healthy economy can break your heart

Article

Abstract

Panel data methods are used to investigate how deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD) in the United States vary with macroeconomic conditions. A one-percentage-point reduction in unemployment is predicted to raise CHD mortality by 0.75%, corresponding to almost 3,900 additional fatalities. The increase in relative risk is similar across age groups, implying that senior citizens account for most of the extra deaths. Direct evidence is obtained of a role for decreases in medical interventions treating coronary problems. CHD mortality increases rapidly when the economy strengthens but returns to or near its baseline level within five years for most groups.

Keywords

Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Unemployment Rate Senior Citizen Macroeconomic Condition Coronary Heart Disease Death 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Population Association of America 2007

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of EconomicsUniversity of North Carolina at GreensboroGreensboro
  2. 2.National Bureau of Economic ResearchUSA

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