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International Handbook of Adult Mortality pp 533–549Cite as

Period Versus Cohort Life Expectancy

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Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Population ((IHOP,volume 2))

Abstract

Mortality can be analyzed according to two main frameworks: the cohort framework, which takes into account mortality risks as they unfold along the actual life cycle of a group of individuals born during the same period of time, and the period framework, which takes into account risks experienced by different cohorts during a single period of time. These frameworks provide two alternative ways for studying life expectancy. Analysis of time trends in life expectancy will differ depending on whether it is calculated by period or cohort. This chapter reviews the extent to which period and cohort life expectancies can be interpreted in terms of underlying health conditions for the corresponding periods and cohorts. While cohort life expectancy is an adequate indicator of a cohort’s underlying health conditions, the connection remains elusive in the case of period life expectancy. Cohort influences and heterogeneity, in particular, appear to generate period life expectancy values that may not entirely reflect period conditions. This chapter also discusses a third and intermediate approach, the cross-sectional cohort approach, which offers some additional insights about the dynamics of mortality.

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful to John Bongaarts, Douglas Ewbank, Samuel Preston, and the editors of this volume for their comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Michel Guillot

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  1. Michel Guillot
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Correspondence to Michel Guillot .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Sociology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, 80309-0327, Colorado, USA

    Richard G. Rogers

  2. Davis School of Gerontology, Andrus Gerontology Center, University of Southern California, McClintock Ave. 3715, Los Angeles, 90089-0191, California, USA

    Eileen M. Crimmins

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Guillot, M. (2011). Period Versus Cohort Life Expectancy. In: Rogers, R., Crimmins, E. (eds) International Handbook of Adult Mortality. International Handbooks of Population, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9996-9_25

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