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  • 2021
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

Status and Mortality: Is There a Whitehall Effect in the United States?

By: Tom Nicholas
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:50
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Abstract

Do white collar workers with lower social status in the occupational hierarchy die younger? The influential Whitehall studies of British civil servants identified a strong inverse relationship between employment rank and mortality, but we do not know if this effect generalizes. Using personnel files, census data and death records, I profile the lifespan and socioeconomic characteristics of a 1930 cohort of white collar workers employed at a leading American firm— General Electric. All had access to a corporate health and wellness program during a critical period associated with the health transition in the United States. I measure status using position in the managerial hierarchy, attendance at prestigious management training camps, and promotions, none of which is associated with a Whitehall-like rank-mortality gradient. Senior managers and executives appear to be the most susceptible to a mortality penalty. I discuss potential explanations for these contrasting findings.

Keywords

Mortality; Status; Socioeconomic Determinants Of Health

Citation

Nicholas, Tom. "Status and Mortality: Is There a Whitehall Effect in the United States?" Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-080, January 2021.

About The Author

Tom Nicholas

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

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More from the Author
  • Health, Human Capital Development and the Longevity of Japanese Elites Since 710 By: Tom Nicholas and Hiroshi Shimizu
  • Status and Mortality: Is There a Whitehall Effect in the United States? By: Tom Nicholas
  • Air Wars: Deregulating the U.S. Airline Industry By: Tom Nicholas and James Weber
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