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Welcome to a CEDAR seminar with guest researcher Tommy Andersson, this years winner of the Swedish Demographic Association's essay competition; Master's Programme in Economic Growth, Population, and Development at Lund University. 

All interested are welcome to participate. If you want to participate digitally, please contact Mojgan Padyab to receive a meeting link.


The Classes of Death Socio-economic mortality differentials in Swedish cities during the harvest failure of 1771-72

This thesis explores the possibility of a socio-economic gradient in mortality during short-term economic stress in pre-industrial Swedish cities using the harvest failure in 1771-72 as an example of economic fluctuations/high prices.

Using newly transcribed data in a logit model, the study finds results indicating that the poor and individuals in occupations categorized as “service and agriculture”, for example maids and guards, faced a higher risk of mortality during short-term economic stress than individuals with higher status, relative to the difference in risk between the groups during the base period 1768-70.

The poor, being the most vulnerable, faced the highest relative risk in the year of high prices. For those in service and agriculture the response was delayed, reaching its highest value in the year after a year of high prices. Differences in timing likely represent effects of malnutrition and supports the hypotheses of a discriminatory mortality response.