Mortality Crisis in Russia Revisited: Evidence from Cross-Regional Comparison

Popov, Vladimir (2009): Mortality Crisis in Russia Revisited: Evidence from Cross-Regional Comparison.

Abstract

This paper provides evidence from cross-regional comparisons that the Russian mortality crisis (mortality rate increased from 1.0% to 1.6% in 1989-94 and stayed at a level of 1.4-1.6% thereafter) was caused mostly by stress factors (increased unemployment, labor turnover, migration, divorces, income inequalities), and by the increase in unnatural deaths (murders, suicides, accidents), but not so much by the increase in alcohol consumption (even though it also increased due to the same stress factors). Health infrastructure of a region had a positive impact on life expectancy only in regions with high income inequalities (large share of highest income group).

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: MORTALITY CRISIS IN RUSSIA
• Subjects: P - Economic Systems > P3 - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions > P36 - Consumer Economics ; Health ; Education and Training ; Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I12 - Health Behavior; P - Economic Systems > P2 - Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies > P27 - Performance and Prospects; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J11 - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts

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