Abstract
Three types of data — cross-section within countries, cross-section among countries, and some time series — reveal that the traditional negative association between mortality and income per capita is disappearing in developed countries. The marginal contribution of medical care to life expectancy, holding the state of the art constant, is also very small. Improvements in medical science (primarily new drugs), however, have had significant effects during the period 1930–60.
Current differences in mortality across, and within, developed countries are primarily related to ‘life-style’ — diet, exercise, smoking, drinking, psychological stress, etc. The ‘demand’ for a long life, and the ability to ‘produce’ it, differ greatly among individuals and populations. A major research task is to gain a better understanding of these demand and production functions.
This paper was written while I was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. I am grateful to the Carnegie Corporation for financial assistance, to Carol Breckner for research assistance and to Perry Gluckman for advice concerning the appendix.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Adelman, Irma, ‘An Econometric Analysis of Population Growth’, American Economic Review, liii, 3 (June 1963) 314–39.
Auster, Richard, Leveson, Irving, and Sarachek, Deborah, ‘The Production of Health; an Exploratory Study’, Journal of Human Resources (Fall, 1969), reprinted in V. Fuchs (ed.), Essays in the Economics of Health and Medical Care (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, for the National Bureau of Economic Research, 1972).
Benjamin, B., Social and Economic Factors Affecting Mortality (Paris: Mouton, 1965).
Fuchs, Victor R., ‘Some Economic Aspects of Mortality in the United States, mimeo (N.B.E.R., 1965).
—, and Kramer, Marcia, Determinants of Expenditures for Physicians’ Services in the United States, 1948–68 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, forthcoming).
Grossman, Michael, The Demand for Health: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, for N.B.E.R., 1972).
McDermott, Walsh, ‘Demography, Culture, and Economics and the Evolutionary Stages of Medicine’, in Edwin D. Kilbourne and Wilson G. Smillie (eds.), Human Ecology and Public Health, 4th ed. (London: Collier-Macmillan, 1969).
McKeown, Thomas, and Record, R. G., ‘Reasons for the Decline of Mortality in England and Wales during the Nineteenth Century’, Population Studies, xvi (Nov 1967) 94–122.
Sheps, Mendel C., ‘Marriage and Mortality’, American Journal of Public Health, li, 4 (1961).
Stolnitz, G. J., ‘A Century of International Mortality Trends’, Population Studies, ix, 1 (1955); x, 1 (1956).
Usher, Dan, ‘An Imputation to the Measure of Economic Growth for Changes in Life Expectancy’, N.B.E.R. Conference on Research in Income and Wealth, 4–6 Nov 1971.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1974 The International Economic Association
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fuchs, V.R. (1974). Some Economic Aspects of Mortality in Developed Countries. In: Perlman, M. (eds) The Economics of Health and Medical Care. International Economic Association Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-63660-0_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-63660-0_11
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-63662-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-63660-0
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature & Performing Arts CollectionLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)