Publication type
Research Paper
Series
SSRN Research Paper Series
Authors
Publication date
June 1, 2015
Summary:
We leverage introduction of the first antibiotic therapies in 1937 to examine impacts of pneumonia in infancy on adult education, employment, disability, income and income mobility, and identify large impacts on each. We then examine how racial segregation in the pre-Civil Rights Era moderated the long-run benefits of antibiotics among blacks. We find that blacks born in more segregated states reaped smaller and less pervasive long run benefits despite sharp drops in pneumonia exposure. Our findings demonstrate causal effects of early life health on economic mobility and the importance of an investment-rewarding institutional environment in realization of the full potential of a healthy start.
Subjects
Link
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1940725
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