Volume 22 - Article 12 | Pages 289–320

The effects of shocks in early life mortality on later life expectancy and mortality compression: A cohort analysis

By Mikko Myrskylä

Print this page  Facebook  Twitter

 

 
Date received:30 Jul 2008
Date published:05 Mar 2010
Word count:6896
Keywords:cohort effects, early life conditions, mortality
DOI:10.4054/DemRes.2010.22.12
 

Abstract

I study how shocks in cohort-level early life conditions, as represented by deviations from trend in mortality before age 5, affect later mortality. I use data for six European countries and find that shocks that increase infant mortality decrease later life expectancy between ages 5-30. The effect is strong for England and Wales but small or insignificant for other countries. Shocks that increase mortality at ages 1-5 increase life expectancy between ages 5-30 and compress the mortality distribution. For both shocks the effects are weak at older ages. These results suggest that early life conditions have a transitory effect and potentially only little influence on old-age mortality.

Author's Affiliation

Mikko Myrskylä - Max-Planck-Institut für Demografische Forschung, Germany [Email]

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

» Reproductive behavior following evacuation to foster care during World War II
Volume 33 - Article 1

» The role of smoking on mortality compression: An analysis of Finnish occupational social classes, 1971-2010
Volume 32 - Article 20

» Urban fertility responses to local government programs: Evidence from the 1923-1932 U.S.
Volume 32 - Article 16

» Age-specific fertility by educational level in the Finnish male cohort born 1940‒1950
Volume 31 - Article 5

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

» The question of the human mortality plateau: Contrasting insights by longevity pioneers
Volume 48 - Article 11    | Keywords: mortality

» Variations in male height during the epidemiological transition in Italy: A cointegration approach
Volume 48 - Article 7    | Keywords: early life conditions

» The Spanish flu and the health system: Considerations from the city of Parma, 1918
Volume 47 - Article 32    | Keywords: mortality

» Gender and educational inequalities in disability-free life expectancy among older adults living in Italian regions
Volume 47 - Article 29    | Keywords: mortality

» Life expectancy loss among Native Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic
Volume 47 - Article 9    | Keywords: mortality

Articles

»Volume 22

 

Citations

 

 

Similar Articles

 

 

Jump to Article

Volume Page
Volume Article ID