IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v109y2014icp35-43.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Born at the right time? Childhood health and the business cycle

Author

Listed:
  • Angelini, Viola
  • Mierau, Jochen O.

Abstract

We analyze the relationship between the state of the business cycle at birth and childhood health. We use a retrospective survey on self-reported childhood health for ten Western European countries and combine it with historically and internationally comparable data on the Gross Domestic Product. We validate the self-reported data by comparing them to realized illness spells. We find a positive relationship between being born in a recession and childhood health. This relationship is not driven by selection effects due to heightened infant mortality during recessions. Placebo regressions indicate that the observed effect is not spurious.

Suggested Citation

  • Angelini, Viola & Mierau, Jochen O., 2014. "Born at the right time? Childhood health and the business cycle," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 35-43.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:109:y:2014:i:c:p:35-43
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.03.014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795361400183X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.03.014?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. Rajeev Dehejia & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2004. "Booms, Busts, and Babies' Health," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(3), pages 1091-1130.
    2. Harold Alderman & John Hoddinott & Bill Kinsey, 2006. "Long term consequences of early childhood malnutrition," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 58(3), pages 450-474, July.
    3. France Portrait & Rob Alessie & Dorly Deeg, 2010. "Do early life and contemporaneous macroconditions explain health at older ages?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(2), pages 617-642, March.
    4. Ruhm, Christopher J., 2005. "Healthy living in hard times," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 341-363, March.
    5. Gerard J. van den Berg & Maarten Lindeboom & France Portrait, 2006. "Economic Conditions Early in Life and Individual Mortality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 290-302, March.
    6. Petri Böckerman & Edvard Johansson & Satu Helakorpi & Ritva Prättälä & Erkki Vartiainen & Antti Uutela, 2007. "Does a slump really make you thinner? Finnish micro‐level evidence 1978–2002," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(1), pages 103-107, January.
    7. van den Berg, Gerard J. & Doblhammer, Gabriele & Christensen, Kaare, 2009. "Exogenous determinants of early-life conditions, and mortality later in life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(9), pages 1591-1598, May.
    8. Steven Haas, 2007. "The long-term effects of poor childhood health: An assessment and application of retrospective reports," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(1), pages 113-135, February.
    9. Apouey, Bénédicte & Geoffard, Pierre-Yves, 2013. "Family income and child health in the UK," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 715-727.
    10. Douglas L. Miller & Marianne E. Page & Ann Huff Stevens & Mateusz Filipski, 2009. "Why Are Recessions Good for Your Health?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 122-127, May.
    11. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-00876618 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. James Smith, 2009. "Reconstructing childhood health histories," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 46(2), pages 387-403, May.
    13. N/A, 2009. "On the Recession," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 24(3), pages 253-253, May.
    14. repec:pri:cheawb:case_paxson_economic_status_paper is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Mazzonna, Fabrizio, 2014. "The long-lasting effects of family background: A European cross-country comparison," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 25-42.
    16. repec:pri:rpdevs:case_and_paxson_early_life_health_w15637 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. James Banks & Zoë Oldfield & James P. Smith, 2011. "Childhood Health and Differences in Late-Life Health Outcomes between England and the United States," NBER Chapters, in: Investigations in the Economics of Aging, pages 321-339, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. repec:pri:cheawb:case_and_paxson_early_life_health_w15637 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. James Banks & Zoë Oldfield & James P. Smith, 2011. "Childhood Health and Differences in Late-Life Health Outcomes between England and the United States," NBER Chapters,in: Investigations in the Economics of Aging, pages 321-339 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Anne Case & Christina Paxson, 2010. "Causes and consequences of early-life health," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 47(1), pages 65-85, March.
    21. van den Berg, Gerard J. & Lindeboom, Maarten & Lopez, Marta, 2009. "Inequality in individual mortality and economic conditions earlier in life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 1360-1367, November.
    22. Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Ruhm, Christopher J., 2006. "Deaths rise in good economic times: Evidence from the OECD," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 298-316, December.
    23. Janet Currie & Mark Stabile, 2003. "Socioeconomic Status and Child Health: Why Is the Relationship Stronger for Older Children?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1813-1823, December.
    24. Anne Case & Darren Lubotsky & Christina Paxson, 2002. "Economic Status and Health in Childhood: The Origins of the Gradient," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1308-1334, December.
    25. Kenneth Y. Chay & Michael Greenstone, 2003. "The Impact of Air Pollution on Infant Mortality: Evidence from Geographic Variation in Pollution Shocks Induced by a Recession," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(3), pages 1121-1167.
    26. 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.
    27. repec:pri:cheawb:adriana_booms is not listed on IDEAS
    28. repec:pri:cheawb:case_paxson_economic_status_paper.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    29. Ruhm, Christopher J. & Black, William E., 2002. "Does drinking really decrease in bad times?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 659-678, July.
    30. repec:pri:cheawb:case_and_paxson_early_life_health_w15637.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    31. Christopher J. Ruhm, 2000. "Are Recessions Good for Your Health?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(2), pages 617-650.
    32. Brandt, Martina & Deindl, Christian & Hank, Karsten, 2012. "Tracing the origins of successful aging: The role of childhood conditions and social inequality in explaining later life health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(9), pages 1418-1425.
    33. Rosemary Hyson & Janet Currie, 1999. "Is the Impact of Health Shocks Cushioned by Socioeconomic Status? The Case of Low Birthweight," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 245-250, May.
    34. James J. Heckman, 2007. "The Economics, Technology and Neuroscience of Human Capability Formation," NBER Working Papers 13195, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    35. Currie, Alison & Shields, Michael A. & Price, Stephen Wheatley, 2007. "The child health/family income gradient: Evidence from England," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 213-232, March.
    36. Steffen Reinhold & Hendrik Jürges, 2012. "Parental income and child health in Germany," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(5), pages 562-579, May.
    37. Case, Anne & Fertig, Angela & Paxson, Christina, 2005. "The lasting impact of childhood health and circumstance," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 365-389, March.
    38. Doblhammer, Gabriele & van den Berg, Gerard J. & Fritze, Thomas, 2011. "Economic Conditions at the Time of Birth and Cognitive Abilities Late in Life: Evidence from Eleven European Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 5940, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    39. Schady, Norbert & Smitz, Marc-Francois, 2010. "Aggregate economic shocks and infant mortality: New evidence for middle-income countries," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 108(2), pages 145-148, August.
    40. Morten O. Ravn & Harald Uhlig, 2002. "On adjusting the Hodrick-Prescott filter for the frequency of observations," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 371-375.
    41. Ruhm, Christopher J., 2003. "Good times make you sick," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 637-658, July.
    42. M. Flores & A.S. Kalwij, 2011. "The associations between early life circumstances and later life health and employment in the Netherlands and Spain," Working Papers 11-10, Utrecht School of Economics.
    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. Paola Bertoli & Veronica Grembi & The Linh Bao Nguyen, 2023. "Birth outcomes in hard times among minority ethnic groups," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 263-294, January.
    2. Stephanie Lange & Claire-Marie Altrock & Emily Gossmann & Jörg M. Fegert & Andreas Jud, 2022. "COVID-19—What Price Do Children Pay? An Analysis of Economic and Social Policy Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-15, June.
    3. Alessie, R.; Angelini, V.; Mierau, J.O.; Viluma, L.;, 2017. "Economic Downturns and Babies’ Health," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 17/11, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    4. Bertoni, Marco & Brunello, Giorgio, 2017. "Pappa Ante Portas: The effect of the husband's retirement on the wife's mental health in Japan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 135-142.
    5. Angelini, V. & Mierau, J. O., 2015. "Late-Life Health Effects of Teenage Motherhood," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 15/09, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    6. Alessie, Rob J.M. & Angelini, Viola & van den Berg, Gerard J. & Mierau, Jochen O. & Viluma, Laura, 2019. "Economic conditions at birth and cardiovascular disease risk in adulthood: Evidence from post-1950 cohorts," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 77-84.
    7. Viluma, Laura, 2020. "Do Cesarean Delivery rates rise when the economy declines? A test of the economic stress hypothesis," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 36(C).
    8. Alessie, Rob & Angelini, Viola & van den Berg, Gerard J. & Mierau, Jochen O. & Viluma, Laura, 2017. "Economic Conditions at Birth and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Adulthood: Evidence from New Cohorts," IZA Discussion Papers 10810, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Jimena Pacheco & Natascha Wagner, 2023. "Long‐term impacts of an early childhood shock on human capital: Evidence from the 1999 economic crisis in Ecuador," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(11), pages 2460-2476, November.
    10. Kyriopoulos, Ilias & Nikoloski, Zlatko & Mossialos, Elias, 2019. "Does economic recession impact newborn health? Evidence from Greece," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Bertoli, Paola & Grembi, Veronica & Nguyen, The Linh Bao, 2020. "Birth in Hard Times When You Belong To Minorities," GLO Discussion Paper Series 729, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    12. Janneke Pieters & Samantha Rawlings, 2020. "Parental unemployment and child health in China," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 207-237, March.
    13. Alessie, Rob & Angelini, Viola & Mierau, Jochen O. & Viluma, Laura, 2018. "Economic downturns and infant health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 162-171.
    14. Pasqualini, M. & Lanari, D. & Minelli, L. & Pieroni, L. & Salmasi, L., 2017. "Health and income inequalities in Europe: What is the role of circumstances?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 164-173.

    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. repec:dgr:rugsom:12002-eef is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Angelini, V. & Mierau, J.O., 2012. "Social and economic aspects of childhood health," Research Report 12002-EEF, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    3. Owen O'Donnell & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Tom Van Ourti, 2013. "Health and Inequality," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-170/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    4. Thomasson, Melissa A. & Fishback, Price V., 2014. "Hard times in the land of plenty: The effect on income and disability later in life for people born during the great depression," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 64-78.
    5. Ainhoa Aparicio, 2014. "Newborn Health and the Business Cycle," CINCH Working Paper Series 1402, Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Competent in Competition and Health.
    6. Alessie, R.; Angelini, V.; Mierau, J.O.; Viluma, L.;, 2017. "Economic Downturns and Babies’ Health," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 17/11, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    7. McInerney, Melissa & Mellor, Jennifer M., 2012. "Recessions and seniors’ health, health behaviors, and healthcare use: Analysis of the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 744-751.
    8. Schaan, Barbara, 2014. "The interaction of family background and personal education on depressive symptoms in later life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 94-102.
    9. Alessie, Rob & Angelini, Viola & Mierau, Jochen O. & Viluma, Laura, 2018. "Economic downturns and infant health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 162-171.
    10. Mark E McGovern, 2012. "Don't Stress: Early Life Conditions, Hypertension, and Selection into Associated Risk Factors," Working Papers 201227, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    11. Almond, Douglas & Currie, Janet, 2011. "Human Capital Development before Age Five," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 15, pages 1315-1486, Elsevier.
    12. Ariizumi, Hideki & Schirle, Tammy, 2012. "Are recessions really good for your health? Evidence from Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(8), pages 1224-1231.
    13. 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.
    14. Eleonora Fichera & John Gathergood, 2016. "Do Wealth Shocks Affect Health? New Evidence from the Housing Boom," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(S2), pages 57-69, November.
    15. Sun, Zhen & Cheng, Lei, 2021. "Air pollution and procyclical mortality: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    16. Arthi, Vellore & Parman, John, 2021. "Disease, downturns, and wellbeing: Economic history and the long-run impacts of COVID-19," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Reichmuth, Wolfgang H. & Sarferaz, Samad, 2008. "The influence of the business cycle on mortality," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2008-059, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    18. Baum II, Charles L. & Ruhm, Christopher J., 2009. "Age, socioeconomic status and obesity growth," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 635-648, May.
    19. Garth Heutel & Christopher J. Ruhm, 2016. "Air Pollution and Procyclical Mortality," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(3), pages 667-706.
    20. Goode, Alison & Mavromaras, Kostas & zhu, Rong, 2014. "Family income and child health in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 152-165.

    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:socmed:v:109:y:2014:i:c:p:35-43. 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/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    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.