This dissertation considers to what extent changes in the unemployment rate – a proxy for the business cycle – drives changes in mortality and crime. I use a panel of U.S. counties from 1990 to 2013. I allow changes in the unemployment rate to have different effects upon mortality / crime in large versus small counties as well as between increases versus decreases in the unemployment rate. My results show great nuance along both these dimensions, suggesting that the effects of the business cycle are more subtle than what previous studies report. These results also give one greater insight into what factors could be driving these effects of the business cycle.
","abstract_html":"<p>This dissertation considers to what extent changes in the unemployment rate – a proxy for the business cycle – drives changes in mortality and crime. I use a panel of U.S. counties from 1990 to 2013. I allow changes in the unemployment rate to have different effects upon mortality / crime in large versus small counties as well as between increases versus decreases in the unemployment rate. My results show great nuance along both these dimensions, suggesting that the effects of the business cycle are more subtle than what previous studies report. These results also give one greater insight into what factors could be driving these effects of the business cycle.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Sameem, Mohammad Sediq"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Economics","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Sylwester, Kevin"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:35:00Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations/1180","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Sylwester, Kevin"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Sameem, Mohammad Sediq"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-08-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Economics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations/1180"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This dissertation considers to what extent changes in the unemployment rate – a proxy for the business cycle – drives changes in mortality and crime. I use a panel of U.S. counties from 1990 to 2013. I allow changes in the unemployment rate to have different effects upon mortality / crime in large versus small counties as well as between increases versus decreases in the unemployment rate. My results show great nuance along both these dimensions, suggesting that the effects of the business cycle are more subtle than what previous studies report. These results also give one greater insight into what factors could be driving these effects of the business cycle.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["CHANGES IN HEALTH AND BEHAVIOR DURING THE BUSINESS CYCLE"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Sylwester, Kevin"],"dc:creator":["Sameem, Mohammad Sediq"],"dc:date.available":["2016-08-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This dissertation considers to what extent changes in the unemployment rate – a proxy for the business cycle – drives changes in mortality and crime. I use a panel of U.S. counties from 1990 to 2013. I allow changes in the unemployment rate to have different effects upon mortality / crime in large versus small counties as well as between increases versus decreases in the unemployment rate. My results show great nuance along both these dimensions, suggesting that the effects of the business cycle are more subtle than what previous studies report. These results also give one greater insight into what factors could be driving these effects of the business cycle.
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