How social and cultural context contributes to explain migrant mortality differentials: An application to Switzerland, 2000-2008.

This paper aims to deepen the link between migrant health and social context. Many
studies tried to understand migrant longevity in Western countries but not always with
satisfying results. Actually, there is an high heterogeneity among migrants which could
not be fully explained by the usual determinants of mortality. In a previous work, we
have shown the relevance of the context when trying to approach migrant’s mortality.
We suppose the local environment, the place where social and cultural interactions take
place, to be a key feature in explaining migrant inequalities in length of life.
Using census and mortality data on the foreigners living in Switzerland between
2000 and 2008, we try to assess the impact of the neighborhood on migrant health
outcomes. In a multilevel approach, we estimate the contribution of the social and
cultural context versus the individual characteristics on explaining inequalities among
migrant populations. We expect the social and cultural context to be a main component
to approach the vulnerability of migrants.