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Presenter: Sinara Gharibyan (CERGE-EI PhD student)
Co-authors: David Gomtsyan, Eric Roca Fernandez

Title: "Geographic Determinants of Mortality and Its Consequences"

Abstract:
This paper investigates how variations in general mortality at birth, shaped by geographic factors, influence human capital investments by altering the expected timeframe for returns. Focusing on 18th century Armenia, we exploit significant altitude differences to study the relationship between geography, life expectancy, and human capital investments. Our findings confirm that higher altitudes, which correlate with lower population density and reduced disease prevalence, lead to lower mortality rates, encouraging greater investments in children’s education and initiating a fertility transition. This study provides empirical support for the link between life expectancy and human capital investments as proposed in unified growth models. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the observed demographic patterns in Armenia are driven by mortality gradients rather than increased female autonomy.

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