Intergenerational Effects of the 1959–61 China Famine

Fung, Winnie Wan-Yi; Ha, Wei

doi:10.1057/9780230274129_10

Cited by 31 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…For example, using data from the 1991 wave of the CHNS, Chen and Zhou (2007) found that those born in 1959 and 1960 attained shorter height in adulthood than those born between 1963 and 1967 (i.e., after the famine). The negative association between prenatal famine exposure and adult height was also confirmed in the 1989 wave (Meng & Qian, 2009) and the pooled 1989–93 waves (Fung & Ha, 2010). However, using the 1989–97 CHNS data, Gørgens et al (2012) reported that the young female famine cohort (born 1957–61) grew about 2 cm taller in adulthood than did the control cohorts (born 1938–47 or 1962–71) – a finding attributed to a positive selection among famine survivors.…”

Section: Studies Of the Glf Famine And Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…Findings on BMI-related measures are even more inconclusive. Studies comparing adults from the famine and post-famine birth cohorts report the famine cohort has no significant difference in BMI (Meng & Qian, 2009), borderline significantly higher (at 0.1 level) BMI (Fung & Ha, 2010), or significantly higher rates of ‘overweight’ BMI (>= 25 kg/m 2 ) (Luo et al, 2006). …”

Section: Studies Of the Glf Famine And Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When the study area covers only a few provinces, researchers must include cohorts born many years after the famine in the control group to make it large enough to analyze between-group variations (Chen & Zhou, 2007; Fan & Qian, 2015; Fung & Ha, 2010), thereby further contaminating the famine effect with intrinsic cohort effect. In addition, because provincial-level famine intensity may vary widely, even within the hardest-hit province, the assumption of within-province homogeneity can result in biased estimates of famine effects.…”

Section: Studies Of the Glf Famine And Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is natural experiment a cure? Re-examining the long-term health effects of China's 1959–1961 famine

Zhang

et al. 2016

Social Science & Medicine

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The fetal origins hypothesis posits that adverse prenatal exposures, particularly malnutrition, increase the risk of poor adult health. Studies using famine as a natural experiment to test the fetal origins hypothesis present conflicting findings, partly because of data limitations and modeling flaws. Capitalizing on the biomarker data and prefecture-level geographic information from the 2011 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, this study estimates the effects of prenatal exposure to China’s 1959–61 famine on later-life risks of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Our analysis addresses the problems of measurement error and intrinsic cohort differences that challenge prior studies. We use provincial and prefecture-level geographic variations in famine severity, a proxy for prenatal malnutrition, for model identification. We construct instrumental variables from geocoded newspaper archive data to adjust for measurement error in famine exposure. We find that estimates of the famine effects are highly sensitive to the choices of health indicators, measures of famine severity, and regression model specifications. Overall, we find little evidence supporting the fetal origins hypothesis. In fact, it appears that prenatal exposure to famine reduces later-life disease risks in certain cases. We interpret this finding as evidence of mortality selection among the famine survivors at work. We conclude that using famine as a natural experiment in itself does not guarantee correct statistical inference about the long-term health impacts of prenatal malnutrition when other analytical challenges remain unresolved.

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Section: Studies Of the Glf Famine And Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Studies Of the Glf Famine And Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Studies Of the Glf Famine And Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Is natural experiment a cure? Re-examining the long-term health effects of China's 1959–1961 famine

Zhang

et al. 2016

Social Science & Medicine

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“…22 And there is evidence that the damage extends to the third generation: yet another study of the Chinese famine finds that children of a parent born during the famine were smaller and lighter, and that the effect was greater for boys than for girls. 23 Such findings imply that the human cost of famines is greater than previously thought.…”

Section: Long-run Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Famines Past, Famine's Future

O'Grada

2010

SSRN Journal

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“…In addition, using longitudinal data on children in Tanzania during a 13-year period, Beegle et al (2008: 21-2) find evidence that an increase in child labor of about six hours is associated 10 years later with a loss of about one year of schooling and an increase in the probability of going into farming and marrying at a young age. Moreover, examining the intergenerational effects of the 1959-61 famine that hit various regions in China, Fung and Ha (2008) found evidence that individuals born during the famine had stunted growth, lower body mass, fewer years of schooling and were less likely to complete primary school.…”

Section: O N G -L I V E D a N D I N T E R G E N E R At I O N A L I mentioning

confidence: 99%

Aggregate Shocks, Poor Households and Children

Mendoza

2009

Global Social Policy

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The global financial crisis that erupted in 2008, coupled with food and fuel price volatility, are likely to affect developing countries and within them the vast majority of the world's poor population in profound ways. This paper maps the different channels through which their effects could be transmitted to the developing world and illustrates a basic framework of shock transmission to a developing country from the macro-to the micro-levels, also considering possible adverse feedback effects. Aggregate shocks are going to be an increasingly common feature of the global economic landscape, and these shocks could result in poverty traps, generating effects that harm not just present, but also succeeding generations. Social budgeting and social protection will be critical in order to preserve investments in children and human development and shield poor households and vulnerable children and women from the worst effects of these shocks. k e y wo r d s aggregate shocks, financial crisis, food crisis, social budgeting, social protection A R T I C L E 55Global Social Policy

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Intergenerational Effects of the 1959–61 China Famine

Cited by 31 publications

References 30 publications

Is natural experiment a cure? Re-examining the long-term health effects of China's 1959–1961 famine

Is natural experiment a cure? Re-examining the long-term health effects of China's 1959–1961 famine

Famines Past, Famine's Future

Aggregate Shocks, Poor Households and Children

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