Long-term Health Effects of Malaria Exposure around Birth: Evidence from Colonial Taiwan
Economic Development and Cultural Change, Forthcoming
30 Pages Posted: 1 Mar 2012 Last revised: 29 Aug 2013
There are 2 versions of this paper
Long-Term Effects of Early Childhood Malaria Exposure on Education and Health: Evidence from Colonial Taiwan
Date Written: January 12, 2012
Abstract
In the early 20th century, the Japanese colonial government initiated an island-wide malaria eradication campaign in Taiwan, resulting in not only a rapid decline in malaria across time but also elimination of disparity across regions. Exploiting variations in malaria deaths caused by the campaign, we estimate causal effects of malaria exposure around birth on the health of elderly born in the colonial period. To mitigate potential biases caused by measurement errors and omitted confounders, we employ climatic factors to instrument for malaria deaths. Our findings suggest that people who were exposed to a high malaria risk around birth tend to have a higher likelihood of cardiovascular diseases and worse cognitive functions at old age.
Keywords: Malaria, Barker Hypothesis, health, Taiwan
JEL Classification: I12, I18, I21, O15, O18
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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