Book
The Mortality Crisis in Transitional Economies

In spite of widespread expectations of improvements in living standards and health conditions, in most of the countries of the former Soviet bloc the transition to the market economy was accompanied by a sharp increase in (already high) death rates. Such an increase provoked an 'excess mortality' of some three million people over the period 1989-96 alone, an unprecedented phenomenon in peacetime. Such a crisis remains poorly explained, has generated a limited policy response in the countries concerned and international organizations, and is bound to generate important political and economic repercussions. This book is the first comprehensive assessment of the mortality crisis in transitional economies, of its causes, and of its remedies on the basis - among others - of micro data sets and quasi-panels on health trends which have never been used before. Contributions by demographers, economists, sociologists, epidemiologists, and health experts provide a rigorous analysis of the upsurge in mortality rates, with the aim of contributing to the launch of vigorous policies to tackle the crisis.

Table of contents
  1. Part I: The Mortality Crisis of the Early 1990s : A Historical and Theoretical Perspective
    The Transition Mortality Crisis: Evidence, Interpretation and Policy Responses
    Giovanni Andrea Cornia, Renato Paniccià
  2. Part I: The Mortality Crisis of the Early 1990s : A Historical and Theoretical Perspective
    Mortality Crises in a Historical Perspective: The European Experience
    Massimo Livi Bacci
  3. Part I: The Mortality Crisis of the Early 1990s : A Historical and Theoretical Perspective
    Short-term, Long-term, and Hysteresis Mortality Models: A Review
    Giovanni Andrea Cornia
  4. Part II: Underlying Causes of The Mortality Crises
    Alcohol as a Cause of Mortality in Societies Undergoing Rapid Transition to Market Economy
    Jacek Moskalewicz, Bogdan Wojtyniak, Daniel Rabczenko
  5. Part II: Underlying Causes of The Mortality Crises
    Transition, Impoverishment and Mortality: How Large an Impact?
    Renato Paniccià
    More Working Paper | Economic Shocks, Impoverishment and Poverty-Related Mortality during the Eastern European Transition
  6. Part II: Underlying Causes of The Mortality Crises
    Psychosocial and Biological Mechanisms Behind the Recent Mortality Crisis in Central and Eastern Europe
    Michael Marmot, Martin Bobak
  7. Part III: Individual And Public Responses
    Rising Unemployment and Coping Strategies: The Case of the Novosibirsk Oblast in Russia
    Natalia Tchernina
  8. Part III: Individual And Public Responses
    Transition, Health Production and Medical System Effectiveness
    Christopher Davis
  9. Part III: Individual And Public Responses
    Fighting Unemployment and Stress: Labour Market Policies in Central and Eastern Europe
    Alena Nesporova
  10. Part IV: Evidence from Selected Country Case Studies
    The Mortality Crisis in East Germany
    Regina T. Riphahn, Giovanni Andrea Cornia
    More Working Paper | The Transition's Mortality Crisis in East Germany
  11. Part IV: Evidence from Selected Country Case Studies
    Population Crisis and Rising Mortality in Transitional Russia
    Vladimir M. Shkolnikov, Giovanni Andrea Cornia
  12. Part IV: Evidence from Selected Country Case Studies
    The Mortality Consequences of the Transition to Market Economy in Latvia, 1991–1995
    Juris Krumins, Uldis Usackis
  13. Part IV: Evidence from Selected Country Case Studies
    The Decline of Mortality in the Czech Republic During the Transition: A Counterfactual Case Study
    Jiri Blazek, Dagmar Dzúrová
  14. Part IV: Evidence from Selected Country Case Studies
    Economic Restructuring and Mortality Changes in Argentina: Is There any Connection?
    Felix Abdala, Rosa N. Geldstein, Soma M. Mychaszula
  15. Part IV: Evidence from Selected Country Case Studies
    When the Welfare State Works: Unemployment and Mortality in Finland
    Markus Jäntti, Pekka Martikainen, Tapani Valkonen
  16. Part IV: Evidence from Selected Country Case Studies
    Labour Market Changes and Mental Illness in Denmark During the 1980s
    Tor Eriksson
  17. Part IV: Evidence from Selected Country Case Studies
    The Impact of Income Dynamics on Mortality in the United States
    Peggy McDonough, Greg J. Duncan, David R. Williams, James S. House
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Endorsements

'essential reading, not only for those interested in demographic changes in eastern Europe, but for anyone seeking better understanding of the interface between social structure and well-being and survival in human societies.' - Population and Development Review, Vol.27, No.3