The Life Table without the Civil Registration System: Alternative Models of Indonesian Mortality

Mira M. Hidajat, Pennsylvania State University
Latrica E. Best, Pennsylvania State University

Without a reliable vital events registration system, Indonesia mainly relied on model life tables to estimate its mortality schedule. However, Model West life tables are not based on Indonesia’s own demographic experience. In this paper, we develop three models of Indonesia's mortality schedules, namely using Model West life table, using indirect estimation of mortality from the National Social and Economic Survey (SUSENAS), a nationally representative cross-sectional survey, and using hazard modeling for longitudinally observed mortality from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS). We evaluate the implications and assumptions of using model life tables and survey data in the resulting life table estimations. We find general similarities in the life table estimates of all three models with some discrepancies by age and sex. We conclude that while there is no gold standard for Indonesian mortality, observed mortality from the IFLS provides a stronger base for estimation of Indonesian mortality.