IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ehbiol/v50y2023ics1570677x23000576.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

In utero and childhood exposure to alcohol and old age mortality: Evidence from the temperance movement in the US

Author

Listed:
  • Noghanibehambari, Hamid
  • Fletcher, Jason

Abstract

Previous research suggests the relevance of in-utero insults and early-life circumstances for a wide array of life cycle outcomes. This research note joins this strand of studies by exploring the long-run mortality effects of in-utero and early-life exposure to alcohol accessibility. In so doing, we take advantage of the prohibition movement during the early part of the twentieth century that generated quasi-natural reductions in alcohol consumption. We use Social Security Administration Death Master Files linked to the full-count 1940 census and compare the longevity of male individuals exposed to the prohibition during in-utero and early childhood (1900–1930) as a result of statewide and federal alcohol ban to those wet counties after the law change to before. The results suggest an intent-to-treat effect of 0.17 years higher longevity as a result of prohibition. A back-of-an-envelope calculation suggests a minimum treatment-on-treated effect of 1.7 years impact. Furthermore, we show that these effects are not driven by other county-level demographic and socioeconomic changes, endogenous selection of births, and preexisting trends in the outcome. Our findings contribute to the growing body of research that explores the in-utero and childhood circumstances on long-term health outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Noghanibehambari, Hamid & Fletcher, Jason, 2023. "In utero and childhood exposure to alcohol and old age mortality: Evidence from the temperance movement in the US," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:50:y:2023:i:c:s1570677x23000576
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2023.101276
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570677X23000576
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ehb.2023.101276?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Asher Ornoy & Zivanit Ergaz, 2010. "Alcohol Abuse in Pregnant Women: Effects on the Fetus and Newborn, Mode of Action and Maternal Treatment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-16, January.
    2. Dills, Angela K. & Jacobson, Mireille & Miron, Jeffrey A., 2005. "The effect of alcohol prohibition on alcohol consumption: evidence from drunkenness arrests," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 279-284, February.
    3. Miron, Jeffrey A & Zwiebel, Jeffrey, 1991. "Alcohol Consumption during Prohibition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(2), pages 242-247, May.
    4. Clément de Chaisemartin & Xavier D'Haultfœuille, 2020. "Two-Way Fixed Effects Estimators with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(9), pages 2964-2996, September.
    5. J. Peter Nilsson, 2017. "Alcohol Availability, Prenatal Conditions, and Long-Term Economic Outcomes," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(4), pages 1149-1207.
    6. Marc T. Law & Mindy S. Marks, 2020. "Did Early Twentieth‐Century Alcohol Prohibition Affect Mortality?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(2), pages 680-697, April.
    7. Michael Baker & Kevin Milligan, 2016. "Boy-Girl Differences in Parental Time Investments: Evidence from Three Countries," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(4), pages 399-441.
    8. David S Jacks & Krishna Pendakur & Hitoshi Shigeoka, 2021. "Infant Mortality and the Repeal of Federal Prohibition," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(639), pages 2955-2983.
    9. Douglas Almond & Janet Currie & Valentina Duque, 2018. "Childhood Circumstances and Adult Outcomes: Act II," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(4), pages 1360-1446, December.
    10. Janet Currie, 2009. "Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Socioeconomic Status, Poor Health in Childhood, and Human Capital Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 87-122, March.
    11. Fertig, Angela R. & Watson, Tara, 2009. "Minimum drinking age laws and infant health outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 737-747, May.
    12. Sun, Liyang & Abraham, Sarah, 2021. "Estimating dynamic treatment effects in event studies with heterogeneous treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 175-199.
    13. Alan Barreca & Marianne Page, 2015. "A Pint for A Pound? Minimum Drinking Age Laws and Birth Outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 400-418, April.
    14. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    15. Andrew Halpern-Manners & Jonas Helgertz & John Robert Warren & Evan Roberts, 2020. "The Effects of Education on Mortality: Evidence From Linked U.S. Census and Administrative Mortality Data," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(4), pages 1513-1541, August.
    16. Cil, Gulcan, 2017. "Effects of posted point-of-sale warnings on alcohol consumption during pregnancy and on birth outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 131-155.
    17. Mary F. Evans & Eric Helland & Jonathan Klick & Ashwin Patel, 2016. "The Developmental Effect Of State Alcohol Prohibitions At The Turn Of The Twentieth Century," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(2), pages 762-777, April.
    18. Christopher Carpenter & Carlos Dobkin, 2011. "The Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Public Health," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(2), pages 133-156, Spring.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hamid Noghanibehambari & Jason Fletcher, 2024. "Unhooking the Past: Early-life Exposure to Hookworm Eradication and Later-life Longevity," NBER Working Papers 33249, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Fletcher, Jason & Noghanibehambari, Hamid, 2024. "The siren song of cicadas: Early-life pesticide exposure and later-life male mortality," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hamid Noghanibehambari & Farzaneh Noghani, 2023. "Long‐run intergenerational health benefits of women empowerment: Evidence from suffrage movements in the US," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(11), pages 2583-2631, November.
    2. Zhang, Xiaohan, 2020. "Parents in Temperance," MPRA Paper 101038, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Bastiaans, Mareen & Dur, Robert & Gielen, Anne C., 2024. "Activating the long-term inactive: Labor market and mental health effects," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    4. Alex Hollingsworth & Krzysztof Karbownik & Melissa A. Thomasson & Anthony Wray, 2024. "The Gift of a Lifetime: The Hospital, Modern Medicine, and Mortality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(7), pages 2201-2238, July.
    5. Cygan-Rehm, Kamila & Karbownik, Krzysztof, 2022. "The effects of incentivizing early prenatal care on infant health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    6. Paul Bingley & Lorenzo Cappellari & Marco Ovidi, 2023. "When it hurts the most: timing of parental job loss and a child’s education," LISER Working Paper Series 2023-12, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    7. Esra Kose & Siobhan M. O'Keefe & Maria Rosales-Rueda, 2022. "Does the Delivery of Primary Health Care Improve Birth Outcomes? Evidence from the Rollout of Community Health Centers," NBER Working Papers 30047, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Álvaro Robério de Souza Sá & Danyelle Karine Santos Branco, 2024. "Social fund and infant mortality: Evidence from an anti‐poverty policy in Northeast Brazil," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(4), pages 674-695, April.
    9. Teltser, Keith & Lennon, Conor & Burgdorf, Jacob, 2021. "Do ridesharing services increase alcohol consumption?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    10. Marianne Bitler & Theodore F. Figinski, 2024. "Long-Run Effects of Food Assistance: Evidence from the Food Stamp Program and Administrative Data," NBER Working Papers 33182, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Hamid Noghanibehambari & Farzaneh Noghani & Nahid Tavassoli, 2023. "Social externalities of women empowerment: Evidence from suffrage movements of late nineteenth and early twentieth century United States," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 70(3), pages 268-284, July.
    12. Grossman, Daniel & Khalil, Umair, 2022. "Neighborhood crime and infant health," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    13. Bas Scheer & Wiljan van den Berge & Maarten Goos & Alan Manning & Anna Salomons, 2022. "Alternative Work Arrangements and Worker Outcomes: Evidence from Payrolling," CPB Discussion Paper 435, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    14. Mac Clay, Pablo & Börner, Jan & Sellare, Jorge, 2023. "Institutional and macroeconomic stability mediate the effect of auctions on renewable energy capacity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    15. Binelli, Chiara & Comi, Simona & Meschi, Elena & Pagani, Laura, 2024. "Every cloud has a silver lining: The role of study time and class recordings on university students’ performance during COVID-19," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 305-328.
    16. Stefan Bauernschuster & Michael Grimm & Cathy M. Hajo, 2023. "The Impact of Margaret Sanger’s Birth Control Clinics on Early 20th Century U.S. Fertility and Mortality," CESifo Working Paper Series 10421, CESifo.
    17. Bhalotra, Sonia & Clarke, Damian & Mühlrad, Hanna & Palme, Mårten, 2021. "Health and Labor Market Impacts of Twin Birth : Evidence from a Swedish IVF Policy Mandate," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1391, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    18. Jack (Peiyao) Ma & Andrea Mantovani & Carlo Reggiani & Annette Broocks & Néstor Duch-Brown, 2024. "The Price Effects of Prohibiting Price Parity Clauses: Evidence from International Hotel Groups," Economics Series Working Papers 1043, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    19. Rik Chakraborti & Gavin Roberts, 2023. "How price-gouging regulation undermined COVID-19 mitigation: county-level evidence of unintended consequences," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 196(1), pages 51-83, July.
    20. Luo, Lianfa & Cheng, Zhiming & Ye, Qingqing & Cheng, Yanjun & Smyth, Russell & Yang, Zhiqing & Zhang, Le, 2024. "Nonmonetary awards and innovation: Evidence from winning China's Top Brand Contest," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mortality; Longevity; Prohibition; Historical Data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:50:y:2023:i:c:s1570677x23000576. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622964 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.