Higher education and lower mortality: longevity in the Russian Academy of Science and Royal Society

Dmitri A. Jdanov, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Evgueni Andreev, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

In the present study, we analyze mortality of members of Russian Academy of Science (RAS) and Royal Society (RS). Both these learned societies have a long history and good quality demographic statistics. Our analysis was limited to the period since 1860 for RAS and since 1750 for RS. The data come from biographic records, which include date of births and death, year of election, and membership status. The total number of record is 3876 for Russia and 8500 for UK. We describe trends in cross-sectional mortality risk at ages 50+ in the learned societies and total populations across time and trace measures of the mortality inequality. Using a Poisson regression model, we estimate principal effects of fellowships on mortality in Russia and the UK and their temporal change. Detailed investigations of temporal mortality and mortality inequality help to understand the role of socioeconomic status and theoretically reachable mortality level.