Marriage selection and mortality patterns

Inferences and fallacies

Bibliographic Data

ID10968645
AuthorsN Goldman (0000-0003-2865-9491, Princeton University, Office of Population Research, 21 Prospect Ave., Princeton, NJ 08544, corresponding author)
Year1993
Volume30
Issue2
Pages189-208
Publication date1993-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDemography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0070-3370 • E-ISSN: 1533-7790
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2307/2061837
PMID8500636
OpenAlexW2086725813
LanguageEN
Citations received145
References cited30

Researchers have long wondered whether marital-status differences in mortality arise largely from selection mechanisms or from causal processes typically known as marriage protection. Unfortunately, many investigators have relied on aggregate patterns of mortality differentials—such as age schedules of excess mortality in the single population or the relationship between the level of excess mortality and the relative size of the single population—to make inferences about the relative importance of selection and causal processes. In this paper, a simple mathematical simulation model is used to demonstrate that many inferences derived from observed patterns are simply not justified. This finding highlights the importance of prospective data for assessing the relative importance of selection and causal factors in accounting for the excess mortality of the unmarried

Econometrics · Economics · Selection (genetic algorithm · Sociology · Statistics · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Demography · Global Health Care Issues · Health disparities and outcomes · Insurance, Mortality, Demography, Risk Management · Mathematics

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub