Death by Segregation: Does the Dimension of Racial Segregation Matter?

Tse-Chuan Yang, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)
Stephen A. Matthews, Pennsylvania State University
Hui-Shien Tsao, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)

The county-level geographic mortality differentials have persisted in the past four decades. Though several socioeconomic factors (e.g., inequality) partially explain this phenomenon, the role of racial segregation has been underexplored. The goal of this study is three-fold. First, the literature on mortality and segregation has focused on metropolitan areas. This study will expand the spatial coverage to the contiguous US to better understand the relationship between racial segregation and mortality. Second, while segregation has been conceptualized into five dimensions, little is known about whether these dimensions are associated with mortality differently. This study will fill this gap. Third, this study will use the eigenfunction-based spatial filtering approach to understand how spatial structure contributes to the understanding of county-level mortality differentials. The results of this study will provide new insight in identifying the determinants of mortality in the US and enrich the literature on segregation and mortality.