Are some populations resilient to recessions? Economic fluctuations and mortality during a period of economic decline and recovery in Finland.

ABSTRACT: This paper uses individual-level longitudinal data on working-age Finns to examine the health effects of economic fluctuations during a period of economic decline (1989-1996) and recovery (1997-2007) in Finland. We used a nationally representative, longitudinal sample formed by linking population, employment and mortality registers (n = 698,484; 7,719,870 person-years). We implemented a region fixed-effect model that exploits within-regional variations over time in the unemployment rate to identify the effect of economic fluctuations on mortality, controlling for individual employment transitions. Unemployment rates increased from 5.2 % in 1989 to 19.8 % in 1996, declining gradually thereafter and reaching 9.7 % in 2007. Results indicate that these large fluctuations in the economy had no

SUBMITTER: Avendano M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5331077 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature