Replication Data for: The Limits to Equivalent Living Conditions: Regional Disparities in Premature Mortality in Germany (with Thomas Plümper and Denise Laroze)

Aim: Despite the country’s explicit political goal to establish equivalent living conditions across Germany, significant inequality continues to exist. We argue that premature mortality is an excellent proxy variable for testing the claim of equivalent living conditions since the root causes of premature death are socioeconomic. Subject and Methods: We analyse variation in premature mortality across Germany’s 402 districts and cities in the year 2014. Results: Premature mortality spatially clusters among geographically contiguous and proximate districts/cities and is higher in more urban places as well as in districts/cities located further North and in former East Germany. We demonstrate that, first, socioeconomic factors account for 62 percent of the cross-sectional variation in years of potential life lost and 70 percent of the variation in the premature mortality rate. Second, we show that these socioeconomic factors either entirely or almost fully eliminate the systematic spatial patterns that exist in premature mortality. Conclusion: On its own, fiscal redistribution, the centrepiece of how Germany aspires to establish its political goal, cannot generate equivalent living conditions in the absence of a comprehensive set of economic and social policies at all levels of political administration, tackling the disparities in socioeconomic factors that collectively result in highly unequal living conditions.

研究目的：尽管德国明确提出了在全国范围内实现生活条件均等的政治目标，但显著的不平等现象仍持续存在。我们认为，过早死亡可作为检验生活条件均等化主张的优质代理变量，因为过早死亡的根本诱因与社会经济因素相关。研究对象与方法：本研究针对2014年德国402个区县及城市的过早死亡差异展开分析。研究结果：过早死亡现象在地理接壤且邻近的区县/城市中呈现空间集聚特征，在城市化程度更高的地区、北部更远区域以及原东德地区，过早死亡水平更高。我们的研究结果显示：其一，社会经济因素可解释62%的潜在寿命损失年（years of potential life lost）截面差异，以及70%的过早死亡率差异；其二，上述社会经济因素可完全或近乎完全消除过早死亡中存在的系统性空间分布格局。研究结论：仅靠财政再分配——这是德国实现其政治目标的核心举措——在缺乏各级政治管理部门出台全面经济与社会政策、未着手解决共同导致生活条件严重不均的社会经济因素差异的情况下，无法实现生活条件的均等化。