[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/poprpr/v32y2013i6p893-917.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Nonlinear Relationship Between Education and Mortality: An Examination of Cohort, Race/Ethnic, and Gender Differences

Author

Listed:
  • Bethany Everett
  • David Rehkopf
  • Richard Rogers
Abstract
Researchers investigating the relationship between education and mortality in industrialized countries have consistently shown that higher levels of education are associated with decreased mortality risk. The shape of the education–mortality relationship and how it varies by demographic group have been examined less frequently. Using the U.S. National Health Interview Survey-Linked Mortality Files, which link the 1986 through 2004 NHIS to the National Death Index through 2006, we examine the shape of the education–mortality curve by cohort, race/ethnicity, and gender. Whereas traditional regression models assume a constrained functional form for the dependence of education and mortality, in most cases semiparametric models allow us to more accurately describe how the association varies by cohort, both between and within race/ethnic and gender subpopulations. Notably, we find significant changes over time in both the shape and the magnitude of the education–mortality gradient across cohorts of women and white men, but little change among younger cohorts of black men. Such insights into demographic patterns in education and mortality can ultimately help increase life expectancies. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Bethany Everett & David Rehkopf & Richard Rogers, 2013. "The Nonlinear Relationship Between Education and Mortality: An Examination of Cohort, Race/Ethnic, and Gender Differences," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 32(6), pages 893-917, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:32:y:2013:i:6:p:893-917
    DOI: 10.1007/s11113-013-9299-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11113-013-9299-0
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11113-013-9299-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Neal, Derek, 2006. "Why Has Black-White Skill Convergence Stopped?," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 9, pages 511-576, Elsevier.
    2. Zajacova, Anna, 2006. "Education, gender, and mortality: Does schooling have the same effect on mortality for men and women in the US?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(8), pages 2176-2190, October.
    3. Jennifer Karas Montez & Mark D. Hayward & Dustin C. Brown & Robert A. Hummer, 2009. "Why Is the Educational Gradient of Mortality Steeper for Men?," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 64(5), pages 625-634.
    4. Altonji, Joseph G. & Blank, Rebecca M., 1999. "Race and gender in the labor market," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 48, pages 3143-3259, Elsevier.
    5. Jennifer Montez & Robert Hummer & Mark Hayward, 2012. "Educational Attainment and Adult Mortality in the United States: A Systematic Analysis of Functional Form," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(1), pages 315-336, February.
    6. Michael T. Molla & Jennifer H. Madans & Diane K. Wagener, 2004. "Differentials in Adult Mortality and Activity Limitation by Years of Education in the United States at the End of the 1990s," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 30(4), pages 625-646, December.
    7. Scott Lynch, 2003. "Cohort and life-course patterns in the relationship between education and health: A hierarchical approach," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 40(2), pages 309-331, May.
    8. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 991-1013, September.
    9. Harry J. Holzer & Steven Raphael & Michael A. Stoll, 2001. "Will Employers Hire Ex-Offenders? Employer Preferences, Background Checks, and Their Determinants," JCPR Working Papers 238, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    10. Ruppert,David & Wand,M. P. & Carroll,R. J., 2003. "Semiparametric Regression," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521780506, September.
    11. Donohue, John J, III & Heckman, James, 1991. "Continuous versus Episodic Change: The Impact of Civil Rights Policy on the Economic Status of Blacks," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 29(4), pages 1603-1643, December.
    12. Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz, 1999. "The Returns to Skill in the United States across the Twentieth Century," NBER Working Papers 7126, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Victor R. Fuchs, 1968. "The Service Economy," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number fuch68-1.
    14. Eric A. Hanushek & Steven G. Rivkin, 2006. "School Quality and the Black-White Achievement Gap," NBER Working Papers 12651, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Zajacova, Anna & Hummer, Robert A., 2009. "Gender differences in education effects on all-cause mortality for white and black adults in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 529-537, August.
    16. Ruppert,David & Wand,M. P. & Carroll,R. J., 2003. "Semiparametric Regression," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521785167, September.
    17. Roland G. Fryer & Paul S. Heaton & Steven D. Levitt & Kevin M. Murphy, 2005. "Measuring the Impact of Crack Cocaine," NBER Working Papers 11318, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Levy, Frank & Murnane, Richard J, 1992. "U.S. Earnings Levels and Earnings Inequality: A Review of Recent Trends and Proposed Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 30(3), pages 1333-1381, September.
    19. Catherine Ross & Ryan Masters & Robert Hummer, 2012. "Education and the Gender Gaps in Health and Mortality," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(4), pages 1157-1183, November.
    20. Irma T. Elo & Pekka Martikainen & Kirsten P. Smith, 2006. "Socioeconomic differentials in mortality in Finland and the United States: the role of education and income," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 22(2), pages 179-203, June.
    21. Phelps, Edmund S, 1972. "The Statistical Theory of Racism and Sexism," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(4), pages 659-661, September.
    22. Backlund, Eric & Sorlie, Paul D. & Johnson, Norman J., 1999. "A comparison of the relationships of education and income with mortality: the national longitudinal mortality study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 49(10), pages 1373-1384, November.
    23. Goldin, Claudia, 1977. "Female Labor Force Participation: The Origin of Black and White Differences, 1870 and 1880," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 37(1), pages 87-108, March.
    24. Clifford M. Hurvich & Jeffrey S. Simonoff & Chih‐Ling Tsai, 1998. "Smoothing parameter selection in nonparametric regression using an improved Akaike information criterion," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 60(2), pages 271-293.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nishimura, Yukihiro & Pestieau, Pierre & Ponthiere, Gregory, 2018. "Education choices, longevity and optimal policy in a Ben-Porath economy," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 65-81.
    2. Hamad, Rita & Elser, Holly & Tran, Duy C. & Rehkopf, David H. & Goodman, Steven N., 2018. "How and why studies disagree about the effects of education on health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies of compulsory schooling laws," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 168-178.
    3. Tiffany Green & Tod Hamilton, 2019. "Maternal educational attainment and infant mortality in the United States: Does the gradient vary by race/ethnicity and nativity?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(25), pages 713-752.
    4. Hayward, Mark D. & Hummer, Robert A. & Sasson, Isaac, 2015. "Trends and group differences in the association between educational attainment and U.S. adult mortality: Implications for understanding education's causal influence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 8-18.
    5. Shervin Assari & Ritesh Mistry, 2018. "Educational Attainment and Smoking Status in a National Sample of American Adults; Evidence for the Blacks’ Diminished Return," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-12, April.
    6. Bethany G. Everett & Jarron Saint Onge & Stefanie Mollborn, 2016. "Effects of Minority Status and Perceived Discrimination on Mental Health," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(4), pages 445-469, August.
    7. Jennifer Glick & Seung Han, 2015. "Socioeconomic Stratification from Within: Changes Within American Indian Cohorts in the United States: 1990–2010," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 34(1), pages 77-112, February.
    8. Jason Fletcher & Hamid Noghanibehambari, 2024. "The effects of education on mortality: Evidence using college expansions," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 541-575, March.
    9. Jason Fletcher & Hamid Noghanibehambari, 2021. "The Effects of Education on Mortality: Evidence Using College Expansions," NBER Working Papers 29423, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Shervin Assari, 2018. "Racial Variation in the Association between Educational Attainment and Self-Rated Health," Societies, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-11, April.
    11. Adriana Lleras-Muney & Joseph Price & Dahai Yue, 2020. "The Association Between Educational Attainment and Longevity using Individual Level Data from the 1940 Census," NBER Working Papers 27514, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Elizabeth M. Lawrence & Richard G. Rogers & Anna Zajacova, 2016. "Educational Attainment and Mortality in the United States: Effects of Degrees, Years of Schooling, and Certification," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(4), pages 501-525, August.
    13. Masters, Ryan K. & Link, Bruce G. & Phelan, Jo C., 2015. "Trends in education gradients of ‘preventable’ mortality: A test of fundamental cause theory," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 19-28.
    14. Matthew A. Andersson, 2018. "An Odd Ladder to Climb: Socioeconomic Differences Across Levels of Subjective Social Status," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 621-643, April.
    15. Connor M. Sheehan, 2019. "Education and Health Conditions Among the Currently Incarcerated and the Non-incarcerated Populations," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 38(1), pages 73-93, February.
    16. Shervin Assari & Maryam Moghani Lankarani, 2018. "Educational Attainment Promotes Fruit and Vegetable Intake for Whites but Not Blacks," J, MDPI, vol. 1(1), pages 1-13, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jennifer Montez & Robert Hummer & Mark Hayward, 2012. "Educational Attainment and Adult Mortality in the United States: A Systematic Analysis of Functional Form," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(1), pages 315-336, February.
    2. Jennifer Karas Montez & Kaitlyn Barnes, 2016. "The Benefits of Educational Attainment for U.S. Adult Mortality: Are they Contingent on the Broader Environment?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(1), pages 73-100, February.
    3. Luo, Ye & Zhang, Zhenmei & Gu, Danan, 2015. "Education and mortality among older adults in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 134-142.
    4. Ross Levine & Alexey Levkov & Yona Rubinstein, 2008. "Racial Discrimination and Competition," NBER Working Papers 14273, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. William J. Collins & Michael Q. Moody, 2017. "Racial Differences in American Women's Labor Market Outcomes: A Long-Run View," NBER Working Papers 23397, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Levine, Ross & Rubinstein, Yona & Levkov, Alexey, 2014. "Bank Deregulation and Racial Inequality in America," Critical Finance Review, now publishers, vol. 3(1), pages 1-48, January.
    7. Roland G. Fryer, Jr. & Devah Pager & Jörg L. Spenkuch, 2013. "Racial Disparities in Job Finding and Offered Wages," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(3), pages 633-689.
    8. John J. Donohue III, 2005. "The Law and Economics of Antidiscrimination Law," NBER Working Papers 11631, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Zajacova, Anna & Hummer, Robert A., 2009. "Gender differences in education effects on all-cause mortality for white and black adults in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 529-537, August.
    10. Adriana Lleras-Muney & Joseph Price & Dahai Yue, 2020. "The Association Between Educational Attainment and Longevity using Individual Level Data from the 1940 Census," NBER Working Papers 27514, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Bryson, Alex & Chevalier, Arnaud, 2015. "Is there a taste for racial discrimination amongst employers?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 51-63.
    12. J. Michelle Brock & Ralph De Haas, 2023. "Discriminatory Lending: Evidence from Bankers in the Lab," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 31-68, April.
    13. Stefan Eriksson & Per Johansson & Sophie Langenskiöld, 2017. "What is the right profile for getting a job? A stated choice experiment of the recruitment process," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 803-826, September.
    14. Billur Aksoy & Christopher S. Carpenter & Dario Sansone, 2022. "Understanding Labor Market Discrimination Against Transgender People: Evidence from a Double List Experiment and a Survey," NBER Working Papers 30483, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Siddique, Abu & Vlassopoulos, Michael & Zenou, Yves, 2023. "Market competition and discrimination," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    16. Samuel Bowles & Rajiv Sethi, 2006. "Social Segregation and the Dynamics of Group Inequality," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2006-02, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    17. Samuel Bowles & Glenn C. Loury & Rajiv Sethi, 2014. "Group Inequality," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 129-152, February.
    18. Thomas Haan & Theo Offerman & Randolph Sloof, 2017. "Discrimination in the Labour Market: The Curse of Competition between Workers," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(603), pages 1433-1466, August.
    19. Nagler Thomas & Schellhase Christian & Czado Claudia, 2017. "Nonparametric estimation of simplified vine copula models: comparison of methods," Dependence Modeling, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 99-120, January.
    20. Angus Deaton, 2003. "Health, Inequality, and Economic Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 41(1), pages 113-158, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:32:y:2013:i:6:p:893-917. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.