A City-Level Analysis of Mortality and the Business Cycle Across Racial and Ethnic Groups

Economics Bulletin, Volume 32, No. 3, 2012.

Posted: 2 Jul 2014

See all articles by Fidel Gonzalez

Fidel Gonzalez

Sam Houston State University - College of Business Administration - Department of Economics and International Business

Matias Fontenla

University of New Mexico - Department of Economics

Troy C. Quast

University of South Florida

Date Written: 2012

Abstract

This paper employs U.S. metropolitan data to investigate the relationship between mortality rate and the business cycle. We utilize mortality and employment data that are specific to a given city, year and race/ethnic group. The analysis improves upon the existing literature by analyzing the relationship for specific racial and ethnic groups and by allowing the relationship to vary according to the level of economic activity in that metropolitan area. We find that while overall mortality is procyclical at the median value of the employment rate, it is countercyclical at lower values and more strongly procyclical at higher values. Our estimates also suggest that while this pattern is present for whites and Hispanics, there is no discernible relationship between mortality and the employment rate for blacks. Our analysis of specific causes of death suggest additional differences across racial and ethnic groups.

Keywords: Business Cycle, Mortality, Race, Ethnicity, MSA

JEL Classification: I1, R0

Suggested Citation

Gonzalez, Fidel and Fontenla, Matias and Quast, Troy C., A City-Level Analysis of Mortality and the Business Cycle Across Racial and Ethnic Groups (2012). Economics Bulletin, Volume 32, No. 3, 2012., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2461004

Fidel Gonzalez (Contact Author)

Sam Houston State University - College of Business Administration - Department of Economics and International Business ( email )

Huntsville, TX 77341-2118
United States

Matias Fontenla

University of New Mexico - Department of Economics ( email )

1915 Roma NE/Economics Building
Albuquerque, NM 87131
United States

Troy C. Quast

University of South Florida ( email )

12901 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.
Tampa, FL 33620
United States

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