TY - JOUR
T1 - Mortality convergence in the enlarged European Union
T2 - A systematic literature review
AU - Hrzic, Rok
AU - Vogt, Tobias
AU - Janssen, Fanny
AU - Brand, Helmut
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/12/1
Y1 - 2020/12/1
N2 - Background: The high mortality rates in the European Union (EU) Member States that acceded in 2004 sparked political interest in mortality convergence. Whether mortality is converging in the EU remains unclear. We reviewed the literature on mortality convergence in the post-2004 EU territory as a whole. We also explored whether the study designs influenced the results and whether any determinants of mortality convergence had been empirically examined. Methods: A systematic literature review was performed. Our search included scientific databases and the websites of international governmental institutions and European demographic research institutes. Results: We uncovered 94 unique records and included seven studies that reported on 36 analyses. There was marked methodological heterogeneity, including in the convergence measures (beta and sigma convergence). All of the beta convergence analyses found narrowing mortality differentials, whereas most of the sigma convergence analyses found widening mortality differentials. The results are robust to the units of analysis and mortality and dispersion measures. Our results also suggest that there is a lack of evidence on the determinants of mortality convergence in the EU. Conclusions: There is general agreement that the EU regions and the Member States with high initial mortality rates improved the fastest, but this trend did not lead to overall mortality convergence in the EU. The harmonization of mortality convergence measures and research into determinants of mortality convergence are needed to support future EU cohesion policy. Policy-makers should consider supporting areas that have moderate but stagnant mortality rates, in addition to those with high mortality rates.
AB - Background: The high mortality rates in the European Union (EU) Member States that acceded in 2004 sparked political interest in mortality convergence. Whether mortality is converging in the EU remains unclear. We reviewed the literature on mortality convergence in the post-2004 EU territory as a whole. We also explored whether the study designs influenced the results and whether any determinants of mortality convergence had been empirically examined. Methods: A systematic literature review was performed. Our search included scientific databases and the websites of international governmental institutions and European demographic research institutes. Results: We uncovered 94 unique records and included seven studies that reported on 36 analyses. There was marked methodological heterogeneity, including in the convergence measures (beta and sigma convergence). All of the beta convergence analyses found narrowing mortality differentials, whereas most of the sigma convergence analyses found widening mortality differentials. The results are robust to the units of analysis and mortality and dispersion measures. Our results also suggest that there is a lack of evidence on the determinants of mortality convergence in the EU. Conclusions: There is general agreement that the EU regions and the Member States with high initial mortality rates improved the fastest, but this trend did not lead to overall mortality convergence in the EU. The harmonization of mortality convergence measures and research into determinants of mortality convergence are needed to support future EU cohesion policy. Policy-makers should consider supporting areas that have moderate but stagnant mortality rates, in addition to those with high mortality rates.
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U2 - 10.1093/eurpub/ckaa038
DO - 10.1093/eurpub/ckaa038
M3 - Review article
C2 - 32206793
AN - SCOPUS:85098468210
SN - 1101-1262
VL - 30
SP - 1108
EP - 1115
JO - European Journal of Public Health
JF - European Journal of Public Health
IS - 6
ER -