Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Early-Life Health Shocks and Labor Markets

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics

Abstract

This chapter discusses research in the last 20 years on the impacts of early-life health on adult labor-market outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. Findings from 27 studies are discussed that cover six themes: nutrition, famines, weather, infectious diseases, economic distress, and other community/parenting interventions. Economists have been able to follow-up randomized early childhood interventions over long periods of time to study adult labor-market effects of early childhood interventions, but also have utilized natural experiments that exploit timing of births and timing of events early in life. This includes novel research on the effects of dietary cultural practices and their long-term economic effects that are plausibly mediated through early-life nutrition. However, compared to the literature on early-life health and its effects on later-life health and education, the literature on the effects of early-life health on labor-market outcomes remains scant, reflecting the empirical challenges that make this area difficult but exciting as well.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Almond D (2006) Is the 1918 influenza pandemic over? Long-term effects of in utero influenza exposure in the post-1940 US population. J Polit Econ 114(4):672–712

    Google Scholar 

  • Almond D, Currie J (2011) Killing me softly: the fetal origins hypothesis. J Econ Perspect 25(3):153–172

    Google Scholar 

  • Almond D, Mazumder B (2011) Health capital and the prenatal environment: the effect of Ramadan observance during pregnancy. Am Econ J Appl Econ 3(4):56–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Almond D, Currie J, Duque V (2018) Childhood circumstances and adult outcomes: Act II. J Econ Lit 56(4):1360–1446

    Google Scholar 

  • Adhvaryu A (2018) Anant Nyshadham, Teresa Molina, and Jorge Tamayo. Helping children catch up: early life shocks and the Progresa experiment. No. w24848. National Bureau of Economic Research

    Google Scholar 

  • Adhvaryu A, Fenske J, Nyshadham A (2019) Early life circumstance and adult mental health. J Polit Econ 127(4):1516–1549

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahsan MZ, Banerjee R, Maharaj R (2021) Early-life access to a basic health care program and adult outcomes in Indonesia. World Bank Econ Rev 35(3):681–704. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhaa015

  • Akbulut-Yuksel M (2014) Children of war the long-run effects of large-scale physical destruction and warfare on children. J Hum Resour 49(3):634–662

    Google Scholar 

  • Akee R (2011) Errors in self-reported earnings: the role of previous earnings volatility and individual characteristics. J Dev Econ 96(2):409–421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akresh R, Lucchetti L, Thirumurthy H (2012a) Wars and child health: evidence from the Eritrean–Ethiopian conflict. J Dev Econ 99(2):330–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akresh R, Bhalotra S, Leone M, Osili UO (2012b) War and stature: growing up during the Nigerian civil war. Am Econ Rev 102(3):273–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Almond D, Edlund L, Li H, Zhang J (2010) Long-term effects of early-life development: evidence from the 1959 to 1961 china famine. In: The economic consequences of demographic change in East Asia. University of Chicago Press, pp 321–345

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Barofsky J, Anekwe TD, Chase C (2015) Malaria eradication and economic outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from Uganda. J Health Econ 44:118–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Behrman JR, Rosenzweig MR (2004) Returns to birthweight. Rev Econ Stat 86(2):586–601

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Behrman JR, Alderman H, Hoddinott J (2004) Hunger and malnutrition. In: Lomborg B (ed) Global crises, global solutions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 363–420

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bhutta ZA, Ahmed T, Black RE, Cousens S, Dewey K, Giugliani E, Haider BA et al (2008) What works? Interventions for maternal and child undernutrition and survival. Lancet 371(9610):417–440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Black MM, Walker SP, Fernald LCH, Andersen CT, DiGirolamo AM, Lu C, McCoy DC et al (2017) Early childhood development coming of age: science through the life course. Lancet 389(10064):77–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bleakley H (2010a) Malaria eradication in the Americas: a retrospective analysis of childhood exposure. Am Econ J Appl Econ 2(2):1–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bleakley H (2010b) Health, human capital, and development. Annu Rev Econ 2(1):283–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blencowe H, Krasevec J, de Onis M, Black RE, An X, Stevens GA, Borghi E et al (2019) National, regional, and worldwide estimates of low birthweight in 2015, with trends from 2000: a systematic analysis. Lancet Glob Health 7(7):e849–e860

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bollinger CR, Hirsch BT, Hokayem CM, Ziliak JP (2019) Trouble in the tails? What we know about earnings nonresponse 30 years after Lillard, Smith, and Welch. J Polit Econ 127(5):2143–2185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown R (2018) The Mexican drug war and early-life health: the impact of violent crime on birth outcomes. Demography 55(1):319–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bundervoet T, Verwimp P, Akresh R (2009) Health and civil war in rural Burundi. J Hum Resour 44(2):536–563

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrillo B (2020) Early rainfall shocks and later-life outcomes: evidence from Colombia. World Bank Econ Rev 34(1):179–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Y, Zhou L-A (2007) The long-term health and economic consequences of the 1959–1961 famine in China. J Health Econ 26(4):659–681

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Currie J, Almond D (2011) Human capital development before age five. In: Handbook of labor economics. Elsevier, vol 4, pp 1315–1486

    Google Scholar 

  • Currie J, Vogl T (2013) Early-life health and adult circumstance in developing countries. Annu Rev Econ 5(1):1–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cutler D, Fung W, Kremer M, Singhal M, Vogl T (2010) Early-life malaria exposure and adult outcomes: evidence from malaria eradication in India. Am Econ J Appl Econ 2(2):72–94

    Google Scholar 

  • De Chaisemartin C, d’Haultfoeuille X (2020) Two-way fixed effects estimators with heterogeneous treatment effects. Am Econ Rev 110(9):2964–2996

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gertler P, Heckman J, Pinto R, Zanolini A, Vermeersch C, Walker S, Chang SM, Grantham-McGregor S (2014) Labor market returns to an early childhood stimulation intervention in Jamaica. Science 344(6187):998–1001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman-Bacon A (2021) Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing. J Econom 225(2):254–277

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould ED, Lavy V, Paserman MD (2011) Sixty years after the magic carpet ride: the long-run effect of the early childhood environment on social and economic outcomes. Rev Econ Stud 78(3):938–973

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gutierrez F (2014) Long-term consequences of early life health shocks: evidence from the 1980s Peruvian crisis. Available at SSRN 2267096

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoddinott JF, Maluccio JA, Behrman JR, Flores R, Martorell R (2008) Effect of a nutrition intervention during early childhood on economic productivity in guatemalan adults. Lancet 371(9610):411–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoddinott J, Behrman JR, Maluccio JA, Melgar P, Quisumbing AR, Ramirez-Zea M, Stein AD, Yount KM, Martorell R (2013) Adult consequences of growth failure in early childhood. Am J Clin Nutr 98(5):1170–1178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horton S, Alderman H, Juan RD (2009) Copenhagen consensus 2008 challenge paper: hunger and malnutrition. In: Lomborg B (ed) Global crises, global solutions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 305–333

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Justino P, Brück T, Verwimp P (eds) (2013) A micro-level perspective on the dynamics of conflict, violence, and development. Oxford University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Krutikova S, Lilleør HB (2015) Fetal origins of personality: effects of early life circumstances on adult personality traits. CSAE working paper WPS/2015-03

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawson N, Spears D (2016) What doesn’t kill you makes you poorer: adult wages and early-life mortality in India. Econ Hum Biol 21:1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu L, Oza S, Hogan D, Chu Y, Perin J, Zhu J, Lawn JE, Cousens S, Mathers C, Black RE (2016) Global, regional, and national causes of under-5 mortality in 2000–15: an updated systematic analysis with implications for the Sustainable Development Goals. Lancet 388(10063):3027–3035

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu C, Black MM, Richter LM (2016) Risk of poor development in young children in low-income and middle-income countries: an estimation and analysis at the global, regional, and country level. Lancet Glob Health

    Google Scholar 

  • Maccini S, Yang D (2009) Under the weather: health, schooling, and economic consequences of early-life rainfall. Am Econ Rev 99(3):1006–1026

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Majid MF (2015) The persistent effects of in utero nutrition shocks over the life cycle: evidence from Ramadan fasting. J Dev Econ 117:48–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Majid F, Behrman J, Mani S (2019) Short-term and long-term distributional consequences of prenatal malnutrition and stress: using Ramadan as a natural experiment. BMJ Glob Health 4(3):e001185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maluccio JA, Hoddinott JF, Behrman JR, Quisumbing AR, Martorell R, Stein AD (2009) The impact of nutrition during early childhood on education among guatemalan adults. Econ J 119(537):734–763

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mansour H, Rees DI (2012) Armed conflict and birth weight: evidence from the al-Aqsa Intifada. J Dev Econ 99(1):190–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meng X, Qian N (2009) The long term consequences of famine on survivors: evidence from a unique natural experiment using China’s great famine. No. w14917. National Bureau of Economic Research

    Google Scholar 

  • Nandi A, Bhalotra S, Deolalikar AB, Laxminarayan R (2017) The human capital and productivity benefits of early childhood nutritional interventions. In: Child and adolescent health and development, 3rd edn. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank

    Google Scholar 

  • Nandi A, Behrman JR, Kinra S, Laxminarayan R (2018) Early-life nutrition is associated positively with schooling and labor market outcomes and negatively with marriage rates at age 20–25 years: evidence from the Andhra Pradesh children and parents study (APCAPS) in India. J Nutr 148(1):140–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson RE (2010) Testing the fetal origins hypothesis in a developing country: evidence from the 1918 influenza pandemic. Health Econ 19(10):1181–1192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ozier O (2018) Exploiting externalities to estimate the long-term effects of early childhood deworming. Am Econ J Appl Econ 10(3):235–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prinz D, Chernew M, Cutler D, Frakt A (2018) Health and economic activity over the lifecycle: literature review. NBER Working Papers, (24865)

    Google Scholar 

  • Rawlings SB (2016) Gender, race, and heterogeneous effects of epidemic malaria on human capital and income. Econ Dev Cult Chang 64(3):509–543

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richter LM, Daelmans B, Lombardi J, Heymann J, Boo FL, Behrman JR, Lu C, Lucas JE, Perez-Escamilla R, Dua T, Bhutta ZA, Stenberg K, Gertler P, Darmstadt GL (2017) Investing in the foundation of sustainable development: pathways to scale up for early childhood development. Lancet 389(10064):103–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig MR, Zhang J (2013) Economic growth, comparative advantage, and gender differences in schooling outcomes: evidence from the birthweight differences of Chinese twins. J Dev Econ 104:245–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shah M, Steinberg BM (2017) Drought of opportunities: contemporaneous and long-term impacts of rainfall shocks on human capital. J Polit Econ 125(2):527–561

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsujimoto T, Kijima Y (2020) Effects of conflict on child health: evidence from the 1990–1994 Northern Mali Conflict. Health Econ 29(11):1456–1474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Venkataramani AS (2012) Early life exposure to malaria and cognition in adulthood: evidence from Mexico. J Health Econ 31(5):767–780

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xinzheng S (2011) Famine, fertility, and fortune in China. China Econ Rev 22(2):244–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Responsible Section Editor: M Niaz Asadullah The chapter has benefitted from valuable comments of the editor and Florencia Lopez Boo. There is no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Senior Economist, American Institutes for Research, Arlington, VA, USA

    Muhammad Farhan Majid

  2. Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Jere R. Behrman

Authors
  1. Muhammad Farhan Majid
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jere R. Behrman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Muhammad Farhan Majid .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. UNU-MERIT & Princeton University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

Section Editor information

  1. Faculty Of Economics And Administration, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    M. Niaz Asadullah

  2. Centre on Skills, Knowledge & Organisational Performance, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    M. Niaz Asadullah

  3. Dept of Economics, University of Reading, Reading, UK

    M. Niaz Asadullah

  4. School of Education, Environment and Development (SEED),, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    M. Niaz Asadullah

  5. IZA Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn, Germany

    M. Niaz Asadullah

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Majid, M.F., Behrman, J.R. (2021). Early-Life Health Shocks and Labor Markets. In: Zimmermann, K.F. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_166-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_166-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-57365-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-57365-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation