ANN ARBOR—Economic freedom could be bad for your health if you’re a man caught in the fervor of competing for status, wealth and power.

A new study from the University of Michigan examines mortality patterns in 14 Eastern European countries before, during and after the transition from centrally planned to market economies in the 1990s.

Researchers found that the difference in mortality rates between men and women increased greatly during the transition to a market economy and remained relatively higher afterwards. The study was conducted by Daniel Kruger, a research scientist in the School of Public Health, and Randolph Nesse, a professor at the U-M Institute for Social Research. The researchers analyzed mortality data collected by the World Health Organization, Kruger said.

The findings give us insight into the kind of social and economic policies that may be beneficial for our health, Kruger said. Dramatic increases in income inequality could lead to similar effects in western countries.

At first glance, the results seem counterintuitive because of the optimism usually associated with the fall of the Iron Curtain, but they fall in line with what researchers already know about mortality discrepancies between men and women. Historically, competition for resources among males is connected with reproductive success, but this competition also fuels risky behavior and stress.

Greater sex differences in mortality rates occurred for both external causes, reflecting a shift toward riskier behavior, and internal causes, indicating a greater physiological impact of stress. For example, the mortality rate from intentional causes such as homicide and violence doubled, the data showed.

“Basically the economic and political transition was more health adverse for men than for women,” Kruger said. “The reason for this is because prior to the transition there wasn’t so much incentive for competition because there was not much of a difference in social status or resources, most people were fairly equally well off.”

Certain groups of men were impacted more than others, he said. People of retirement age were hardly affected, because they did not have to compete economically. Those under age 25 were also not adversely affected, probably because they saw great opportunities in the transition. This too falls in line with existing research. In western countries, sex differences in mortality rates are much higher in lower socioeconomic populations, who face greater competition for resources and status.

There were vast differences among countries depending how well situated they were when the transition to a market economy occurred, Kruger said. For instance, the Czech Republic already had a good industrial base; the capital of Prague was spared devastation by WWII and became a tourist attraction. It had one of the lowest mortality discrepancies. The former Soviet Socialist Republics have not done as well economically, and this is reflected in the large increases in mortality differences.

The University of Michigan School of Public Health has been working to promote health and prevent disease since 1941, and is consistently ranked among the top five schools in the country. Faculty and students in the school’s five academic departments and dozens of collaborative centers and institutes are forging new solutions to the complex health challenges of today, including chronic disease, health care quality and finance, emerging genetic technologies, climate change, socioeconomic inequalities and their impact on health, infectious disease, and the globalization of health. Whether making new discoveries in the lab or researching and educating in the field, our faculty, students, and alumni are deployed around the globe to promote and protect our health.

Journal of Evolutionary Psychology issue (.pdf)School of Public HealthKruger