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Hidden Costs of the Great London Smog: Evidence from Missing Births

Author

Listed:
  • Alastair Ball

    (Birkbeck, University of London)

Abstract

This article measures the effect of the Great London Smog on fetal loss by testing for missing births in the subsequent nine months, using newly available data. Results show the five day smog resulted in a 3.5% reduction in the size of the cohort affected in the third trimester, and a 1.5% reduction in the size of the cohort affected in their first trimester.

Suggested Citation

  • Alastair Ball, 2018. "Hidden Costs of the Great London Smog: Evidence from Missing Births," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 38(4), pages 1823-1830.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-18-00224
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    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2018/Volume38/EB-18-V38-I4-P169.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Whitney K. Newey & Kenneth D. West, 1994. "Automatic Lag Selection in Covariance Matrix Estimation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 61(4), pages 631-653.
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    3. Sanders, Nicholas J. & Stoecker, Charles, 2015. "Where have all the young men gone? Using sex ratios to measure fetal death rates," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 30-45.
    4. Seema Jayachandran, 2009. "Air Quality and Early-Life Mortality: Evidence from Indonesia’s Wildfires," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(4).
    5. Brian Beach & W. Walker Hanlon, 2018. "Coal Smoke and Mortality in an Early Industrial Economy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(615), pages 2652-2675, November.
    6. Janet Currie & Joshua Graff Zivin & Jamie Mullins & Matthew Neidell, 2014. "What Do We Know About Short- and Long-Term Effects of Early-Life Exposure to Pollution?," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 217-247, October.
    7. Walker Hanlon, 2018. "London fog: A century of pollution and mortality, 1866-1965," Working Papers 18019, Economic History Society.
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    Cited by:

    1. von Hinke, Stephanie & Sørensen, Emil N., 2023. "The long-term effects of early-life pollution exposure: Evidence from the London smog," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Great London Smog; Pollution; Stillbirths; Missing Births;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • N3 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy

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