Gender gap in life expectancy at birth and the role of socioeconomic indicators in South and East Europe, 1991 – 2020: Evidence from a dynamic panel model

The purpose of this paper is to explain the role of socioeconomic development, economic, employment, and demographic factors on gender gap in life expectancy at birth (LEAB) in 24 South and East European countries. Aggregated yearly time series mainly from the UN and World Bank database for the period 1991 – 2020 were used. The generalized method of moments/dynamic panel data (GMM/DPD) model, a dynamic panel model, was used to explore the role of socioeconomic development, economic, employment, and demographic factors on sex differences in LEAB. The study shows that in these countries, a narrowed gender gap in LEAB is associated with a higher percentage of urban population in total population. There was found a significant impact of GDP per capita with a 2-year lag and Gini index with a 2-year lag as well as to LEAB on the gender gap in LEAB. There was not found a significant relationship between employment and education variables on gender gap in LEAB. However, the findings are important for policy discussions in terms of population health, labor policy, etc. The results are supported by the number of studies which show the relationship between socioeconomic development, economic, and demographic indicators and employment issues with gender gap in LEAB.