The Long Term Consequences of Famine on Survivors: Evidence from a Unique Natural Experiment Using China’s Great Famine

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Citation

Meng, Xin & Qian, Nancy (2009). The Long Term Consequences of Famine on Survivors: Evidence from a Unique Natural Experiment Using China's Great Famine. National Bureau of Economic Research.

Abstract

This paper estimates the long run impact of famine on survivors in the context of China’s Great Famine. To address problems of measurement error of famine exposure and potential endogeneity of famine intensity, we exploit a novel source of variation in regional intensity of famine derived from the unique institutional determinants of the Great Famine. To address attenuation bias caused by selection for survival, we estimate the impact on the upper quantiles of the distribution of outcomes. Our results indicate that in-utero and early childhood exposure to famine had large negative effects on adult height, weight, weight-for-height, educational attainment and labor supply.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.3386/w14917

Reference Type

Report

Year Published

2009

Author(s)

Meng, Xin
Qian, Nancy