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The ratio of expansion to compression: A new measure of lifespan disparity

Numerous studies have shown that high life expectancy is closely related to low life disparity. Unlike life expectancy, which can be increased by mortality decline at any age, life disparity can either increase or decrease in response to mortality decline. Disparity can thus be decomposed into two o...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Zhang, Zhen, Li, Qiang
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7735627/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33315959
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243482
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author Zhang, Zhen
Li, Qiang
author_facet Zhang, Zhen
Li, Qiang
author_sort Zhang, Zhen
collection PubMed
description Numerous studies have shown that high life expectancy is closely related to low life disparity. Unlike life expectancy, which can be increased by mortality decline at any age, life disparity can either increase or decrease in response to mortality decline. Disparity can thus be decomposed into two opposite components, called compression and expansion, depending on the effect of mortality decline on the age distribution of mortality. Without specifying the two components, various conventional measures of disparity may provide misleading information relating to how life chances in society can be equalized. Based on the relevant properties of changes in disparity, we develop a new measure of disparity—the ratio of expansion to compression—that can account for the relative importance of the two components. This simple measure not only provides a clear view of the evolution of disparity, but also permits changes in disparity related to mortality decline to be interpreted in a consistent manner similar to life expectancy. Simulations and an empirical analysis demonstrated the advantages of this new measure over conventional measures of disparity.
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spelling pubmed-77356272020-12-22 The ratio of expansion to compression: A new measure of lifespan disparity Zhang, Zhen Li, Qiang PLoS One Research Article Numerous studies have shown that high life expectancy is closely related to low life disparity. Unlike life expectancy, which can be increased by mortality decline at any age, life disparity can either increase or decrease in response to mortality decline. Disparity can thus be decomposed into two opposite components, called compression and expansion, depending on the effect of mortality decline on the age distribution of mortality. Without specifying the two components, various conventional measures of disparity may provide misleading information relating to how life chances in society can be equalized. Based on the relevant properties of changes in disparity, we develop a new measure of disparity—the ratio of expansion to compression—that can account for the relative importance of the two components. This simple measure not only provides a clear view of the evolution of disparity, but also permits changes in disparity related to mortality decline to be interpreted in a consistent manner similar to life expectancy. Simulations and an empirical analysis demonstrated the advantages of this new measure over conventional measures of disparity. Public Library of Science 2020-12-14 /pmc/articles/PMC7735627/ /pubmed/33315959 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243482 Text en © 2020 Zhang, Li http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Zhang, Zhen
Li, Qiang
The ratio of expansion to compression: A new measure of lifespan disparity
title The ratio of expansion to compression: A new measure of lifespan disparity
title_full The ratio of expansion to compression: A new measure of lifespan disparity
title_fullStr The ratio of expansion to compression: A new measure of lifespan disparity
title_full_unstemmed The ratio of expansion to compression: A new measure of lifespan disparity
title_short The ratio of expansion to compression: A new measure of lifespan disparity
title_sort ratio of expansion to compression: a new measure of lifespan disparity
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7735627/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33315959
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243482
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