Proceedings of the 29th International Academic Conference, Rome

CLIMATE CHANGE AND MORTALITY: EVIDENCE FROM 23 DEVELOPED COUNTRIES BETWEEN 1960 AND 2010

MARKO KORHONEN, SUVI KANGASRÄÄSIÖ, RAULI SVENTO

Abstract:

This study explores the relationship between climatic change (measured by temperature rate) and mortality in 23 OECD countries during 1960–2010. By utilizing the health production framework of Becker-Grossman (2000) we indicate that the temperature-mortality relation is significant in early part of the sample period (before 1990) but insignificant during the second part (after 1990). After including controlling factors as well as nation and year fixed effects we provide evidence that people do adapt to the most of the temperature related mortalities. We also explore the cointegration relationship between national temperatures and mortality rates. In this way we investigate whether there is a joint relation between temperature and mortality rates in the long run. Our results show evidence of the relationship between temperature increase and some cause-specific mortality rates especially in those developed countries, where the annual average temperature is over 13 degrees Celsius. There is much less evidence of cointegration in those developed countries, where the average temperature is below 5 degrees Celsius.

Keywords: Climate change, mortality, temperature, adaptation, fixed effect model, panel cointegration

DOI: 10.20472/IAC.2017.029.018

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