ArticleSocial science & medicine (1982)2016
Driving through the Great Recession: Why does motor vehicle fatality decrease when the economy slows down?
Article in Social science & medicine (1982), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Business cycles and mortality in Italy.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2026Article
- Traffic accident mortality in large urban areas, Argentina 2010-2016Revista de la Facultad de Ciencias Medicas (Cordoba, Argentina) · 2026Article
- Do opioid prescriptions lead to fatal car crashes?American journal of health economics · 2022Article
- Coronavirus disease 2019: What could be the effects on Road safety?Accident; analysis and prevention · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
1 author.
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Abstract
The relationship between short-term macroeconomic growth and temporary mortality increases remains strongest for motor vehicle (MV) crashes. In this paper, I investigate the mechanisms that explain falling MV fatality rates during the recent Great Recession. Using U.S. state-level panel data from 2003 to 2013, I first estimate the relationship between unemployment and MV fatality rate and then decompose it into risk and exposure factors for different types of MV crashes. Results reveal a significant 2.9 percent decrease in MV fatality rate for each percentage point increase in unemployment rate. This relationship is almost entirely explained by changes in the risk of driving rather than exposure to the amount of driving and is particularly robust for crashes involving large commercial trucks, multiple vehicles, and speeding cars. These findings provide evidence suggesting traffic patterns directly related to economic activity lead to higher risk of MV fatality rates when the economy improves.
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