Demographic Research a free, expedited, online journal of peer-reviewed research and commentary in the population sciences published by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Konrad-Zuse Str. 1, D-18057 Rostock · GERMANY www.demographic-research.org DEMOGRAPHIC RESEARCH VOLUME 14, ARTICLE 9, PAGES 157-178 PUBLISHED 07 MARCH 2006 http://www.demographic-research.org/Volumes/Vol14/9/ DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2006.14.9 Research Article A model for geographical variation in health and total life expectancy Peter Congdon c  2006 Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.