https://macropaperwarehouse.com/authors/matthew-j-notowidigdo/Matthew J NotowidigdoHugo -- gohugo.ioen-ushttps://macropaperwarehouse.com/papers/lives-versus-livelihoods-the-impact-of-the-great-recession-on-mortality-and-welfare/https://macropaperwarehouse.com/papers/lives-versus-livelihoods-the-impact-of-the-great-recession-on-mortality-and-welfare/<p><strong>Research Question.</strong> Does the Great Recession reduce or increase mortality, and what are the welfare implications of incorporating recession-induced mortality changes into standard macroeconomic welfare frameworks?</p> <p><strong>Setting and Identification.</strong> The authors exploit spatial variation in the severity of the 2007–2009 Great Recession across 741 U.S. Commuting Zones (CZs), following the empirical design of Yagan (2019). The primary shock variable is the percentage-point change in the CZ unemployment rate between 2007 and 2009. The key identifying assumption is that no concurrent shocks to mortality coincide with the timing and geographic pattern of the Great Recession shock. Pre-trend evidence supports this: CZs subsequently harder hit experienced a slight relative <em>increase</em> in mortality before 2007, which is the opposite sign from the main effect, supporting the validity of the design.</p>