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Mass shootings and Infant Health in the United States

Author

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  • Rakesh Banerjee

    (University of Exeter Business School)

  • Tushar Bharati

    (University of Western Australia Business School)

Abstract

We study the causal effect of mass shooting incidents during pregnancy on infant health outcomes. Our identification strategy exploits the spatial and temporal variation of mass shooting incidents across counties of United States. We find increased severity of mass shooting incidents lead to lower average birth weight, shorter gestational age, increased incidence of low birth weight (less than 2500 gms), and higher infant mortality rate. Further, we use the exogenous variation in the media coverage of mass shooting incidents due to competing international newsworthy events to show that the effects are exacerbated by the coverage of these events, suggesting that the adverse effects on health might be due to psychological stress from exposure to news coverage of shooting incidents.

Suggested Citation

  • Rakesh Banerjee & Tushar Bharati, 2021. "Mass shootings and Infant Health in the United States," HiCN Working Papers 346, Households in Conflict Network.
    • Handle: RePEc:hic:wpaper:346
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    Cited by:

    1. Gunadi, Christian, 2021. "On the Tragedy of Mass Shooting: the Crime Effects," GLO Discussion Paper Series 951, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    mass shootings; infant mortality; birth weight; mental stress;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General

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