BY: REGINA T. RIPHAHN
University of Munich
Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
KLAUS F. ZIMMERMANN
Institute for the Study of Labor
University of Bonn
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Paper ID: IZA Working Paper No. 6
Date: May 1998
Contact: KLAUS F. ZIMMERMANN
Email: Mailto:zimmermann at iza.org
Postal: Institute for the Study of Labor
P.O.Box 7240
D-53072 Bonn, GERMANY
Phone: +49 228 3894 201
Fax: +49 228 3894 210
Co-Auth: REGINA T. RIPHAHN
Email: Mailto:regina.riphahn at selapo.vwl.uni-muenchen.de
Postal: University of Munich
Ludwigstrasse 28 RG
80539 Munich, GERMANY
Paper Requests:
Contact: Gabriela Humborg, Institute for the Study of Labor
(IZA), P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany
Mailto:humborg at iza.org Phone:+49 228 3894 119. Fax:+ 49 228 3894
210.
ABSTRACT:
A number of studies suggest that mortality rates among East
German men increased in the wake of reunification, in particular
between 1989 and 1991, in some age groups by up to thirty
percent. This study first examines the developments of mortality
and cause of death statistics based on detailed regional data.
The results indicate that there was indeed an increase in
mortality rates which cannot be dismissed as a statistical
artefact. Next, the paper discusses various theories explaining
mortality crises and their relevance for the case of East
Germany. Based on individual-level panel data the relationship
between exposure to stress and overall health is shown.
Apparently, the increase in mortality can be explained by the
increase in individual stress levels after the economic,
cultural and political consequences of reunification.