Health convergence between East and West Germany as reflected in long-term cause-specific mortality trends: how much was due to reunification? • Pavel Grigoriev, Max-Planck Institute for Demographic Research ; Marketa Pechholdova, University of Economics, Prague (VSE)

The contribution of alcohol to life expectancy differentials across countries and over time in Europe • Sergi Trias-Llimós, University of Groningen ; Anton E. Kunst, University of Amsterdam ; Fanny Janssen, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) and University of Groningen

Cohort survival comparisons among industrialized countries: the truncated cross-sectional average length of life approach • Marilia Nepomuceno, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) ; Vladimir Canudas-Romo, Max-Planck Odense Center on the Biodemography of Aging

Mortality trends in Baltic countries before, during and after Soviet domination • France Meslé, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED) ; Jacques Vallin, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)

Why are Northern Europeans falling behind in life expectancy? An international comparison of age and cause of death, 1970-2009 • Alyson A. van Raalte, Max-Planck Institute for Demographic Research ; Vladimir M. Shkolnikov, Max-Planck Institute for Demographic Research and New Economic School, Russia