Much research has linked an increase in adult mortality with the socioeconomic transition of former European socialist societies after 1989. Few studies examine corresponding experiences in China, however. Using the death certificates of Shanghai residents, we examined any such sudden mortality change and crisis when China went through economic transformation. We explored trends in life expectancy at birth and age-specific mortality in Shanghai. We applied Arriaga’s decomposition method to analyze the contributions of specific ages and the causes to the changes in life expectancy. We used harmonic regression models to assess the statistical significance of rising and falling mortality over time. The analysis shows that, coinciding with the economic transition of 1992–1996, the previously steady improvement of life expectancy in Shanghai slowed down. Mortality among working-age males (20–44 years old) increased (P<.001) in Shanghai, largely due to rising cardiovascular disease (CVD) (P<.05) and injury (P<.001). Suicide and liver disease remained stable or fell, while transportation deaths increased in Shanghai. The economic reform in Shanghai seems to include the privatization of state-owned enterprises, economic growth, and initial increases in working-age male mortality in the 1990s.

This paper investigates whether agricultural households in the rural Philippines insure their consumption against income shocks and whether they use migration, remittances, informal loans, or assets as ex post risk-coping mechanisms. Since these households have limited access to formal insurance and credit markets, any shocks to their volatile income can have substantial impacts. Using panel data, and rainfall shocks as the instrumental variable for income shocks, this paper finds little evidence of effective risk-sharing within the networks of family and friends. 2SLS, OLS, and SUR estimates show that only about 16 percent of consumption is insured. While domestic remittances from other families replace about 51 percent of income decline, informal loans decrease by about 34 percent. Additional tests, however, reveal that agricultural households
engage in entrepreneurial activity when rainfall increases and children are somehow protected from the adverse effects of rainfall shocks. Hours spent on own family-operated businesses likewise increase.

Published:  Pajaron, Marjorie C. Remittances, informal loans, and assets as risk-coping mechanisms: evidence from agricultural households in rural Philippines. No. 2014-16. Discussion Paper, School of Economics, University of the Philippines, 2014.

Nutrition, physical activity, smoking, and alcohol consumption are major causes of morbidity and mortality related to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Hypertension, diabetes type II, cancer, and chronic pulmonary diseases cause 60 percent of deaths worldwide and will likely increase by 17 percent during the next 10 years. Eighty percent of deaths caused by NCDs are registered in low- and middle-income countries in the working-age population and contribute to the growth of poverty [1,2,3].

During the last 15 years in Mongolia the leading causes of mortality have been cardiovascular disease and cancer.

This qualitative survey is one part of the Facility-Based Impact Study (FBIS) and was funded by the MCA Health Project. The overall goal of the MCA Health Project is to reduce mortality and morbidity caused by NCD and traffic accidents. Over a period of five years, the project aims to provide the population with essential knowledge about health promotion, the prevention and early detection of NCDs, and the adoption of healthy lifestyles through capacity building for the health system and, more specifically, for the preventive facilities. One main activity of the project is to improve primary health services related to NCDs through interventions for capacity building on the level of health facilities. This FBIS focuses on assessing the current situation in the facilities to enable a later comparison of the results of this baseline study and a later follow-up study to evaluate the impact of the Health Project on the performance of health staff, their knowledge, attitudes, and practice in the facilities, and the preparedness of facilities in terms of equipment and staff. The survey was carried out by a joint team of local and international consultants from the MCA Health Project, EPOS Health Management and THL Finland, and researchers from the School of Public Health.