[...]In this paper, I draw on analyses that aimed todetermine whether impoverished U.S. locales varied byrace or urban/rural location in their rates and causes ofexcess mortality, and whether mortality gaps betweenimpoverished and other U.S. populations widened over thedecade from 1980 to 1990....

When the equilibrium of the economy depends on the coordinationof actions of a large number of agents the level of optimism can be-come a deciding factor. We propose an equilibrium selection processwhere the level of optimism is endogenously determined...

Understanding of the substantial disparity in health between low and high socioeconomic status (SES) groups is hampered by the lack of a suffciently comprehensive theoretical framework to interpret empirical facts and to predict yet untested relations. We present a life-cycle model that...

Understanding of the substantial disparity in health between low and high socioeconomic status (SES) groups is hampered by the lack of a suffciently comprehensive theoretical framework to interpret empirical facts and to predict yet untested relations. We present a life-cycle model that...