Iterative intercensal single-decrement life tables using Stata

One way to estimate mortality in countries with incomplete data is to utilize intercensal methods, which do not require model life tables and provide accurate results even in the presence of age distortions and death underregistration. In this article, I revisit three of these techniques (census based, death distribution, and an iterative procedure) and introduce ilt, a command to calculate singledecrement life tables and the net flow of migrants by age. The required inputs are two age-specific population distributions and the average number of deaths between them. The empirical example draws on data from Vietnam, but the methods are extendable to any context and period.

针对数据不完备的国家，估算死亡率的一类可行方案是采用两次普查间估算方法（intercensal methods）：此类方法无需借助标准生命表，即便存在年龄数据失真与死亡登记漏报的情况，仍可输出精准可靠的结果。本文重新审视了其中三类方法：基于普查法、死亡分布法以及迭代程序法，并推出了ilt工具——一款可计算单减生命表（singledecrement life tables）与分年龄移民净流动量的命令工具。该工具所需的输入数据为两份分年龄人口分布数据，以及两次普查间隔期内的年均死亡人数。本文的实证示例采用了越南的相关数据，但所述方法可推广至任意地区与研究时段。