Long-Term Consequences of Early Life Health Shocks: Evidence from the 1980s Peruvian Crisis

Type Working Paper
Title Long-Term Consequences of Early Life Health Shocks: Evidence from the 1980s Peruvian Crisis
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2014
URL https://my.vanderbilt.edu/federicogutierrez/files/2011/11/Gutierrez_c.pdf
Abstract
During the Peruvian economic crisis of the late 1980s, infant mortality significantly increased. This paper investigates the long-term consequences on health and education for infants who survived this period. Because no longitudinal data are available, the estimation of causal effects is performed combining the short-term and long-term impact of the crisis in a two-step procedure. Results indicate that the detrimental health conditions associated with an additional percentage point in infant mortality makes children who survived the crisis 2 percentage points more likely to suffer a chronic illness and 1.7 percentagepoints less likely to complete primary education by age 15. A partial identification approach suggests that the attenuation bias due to selection for survival is relatively small.

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