Comment A Note on the Causal Factors of China’s Famine in 1959–1961

where POPt21 is the total population in the previous year; ADR t and EDR t are, respectively, the actual and expected death rates in year t ; and ABR t and EBR t are, respectively, the actual and expected birth rates in year t. Expected death and birth rates are those that would have prevailed if there had been no famine. In other words, the difference between ADR t and EDR t is an increased death rate caused by starvation rather than natural wastage. The difference between ABR t and EBR t is a lost birth rate caused by lost fertility as a result of famine. The data and estimation of the expected growth rate, death rate, and birth rate for the famine period 1959–61 are available from the author on request. The actual growth, death, and birth rates are