Abstract
This paper develops an economic analysis of mortality to account for the mortality decline during the demographic transition. We propose a unified growth model in which there is intra- and intergenerational health transmission: parental health affects child survival and investments in early life improve health over the entire life-cycle. Based on data from England and Wales between 1640 and 2000, we show that the role of economic changes in mortality is larger than previously estimated. As in current estimates, contemporary income has a minor impact on mortality change. Most of the economic influences, however, are unaccounted for by contemporary relationships.
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Birchenall, J.A. Esca** high mortality. J Econ Growth 12, 351–387 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10887-007-9022-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10887-007-9022-2