The Far Eastern pattern of mortality is not a unique regional mortality model: a reply to Noreen Goldman.

In a paper published in this journal last year, I questioned the validity of the so-called Far Eastern pattern of mortality as a unique regional mortality model (Zhao 2003). In her response, Noreen Goldman makes three major points. First, the Far Eastern mortality pattern as originally formulated by her differs from that defined by the United Nations Population Division. Second, the method used in my analysis is different from that of hers and not effective in discerning mortality patterns. Third, the Far Eastern mortality pattern as defined by her is indeed a unique mortality model (Goldman 2003). In this note I comment on these assertions and further demonstrate that the Far Eastern mortality pattern is not a unique regional model.