Preston curve

The Preston curve, using cross-country data for 2005. The x-axis shows GDP per capita in 2005 international dollars, the y-axis shows life expectancy at birth. Each dot represents a particular country.
Data points of income per head and life-expectancy of individual countries

The Preston curve is an empirical cross-sectional relationship between life expectancy and real per capita income. It is named after Samuel H. Preston who first described it in 1975.[1][2] Preston studied the relationship for the 1900s, 1930s and the 1960s and found it held for each of the three decades. More recent work has updated this research.[3]

  1. ^ Preston, S. H (1975). "The Changing Relation between Mortality and Level of Economic Development". Population Studies. 29 (2): 231–248. doi:10.2307/2173509. JSTOR 2173509. PMC 2572360. PMID 14758412.
  2. ^ Preston, S. H (2007). "The changing relation between mortality and level of economic development". International Journal of Epidemiology. 36 (3): 484–90. doi:10.1093/ije/dym075. PMC 2572360. PMID 17550952.
  3. ^ Bloom, D. E; Canning, D. (2007). "Commentary: The Preston Curve 30 years on: still sparking fires". International Journal of Epidemiology. 36 (3): 498–9, discussion 502–3. doi:10.1093/ije/dym079. PMID 17550948.