Long-run effects of early childhood exposure to cholera on final height: Evidence from industrializing Japan

Abstract

Pandemic cholera is one of the most topical and urgent issues in many developing countries. However, although a growing body of research has shown the negative long-run effects of infectious disease exposure on human health, the long-run influences of early childhood exposure to cholera have thus far been understudied. To bridge this gap in the body of knowledge, we draw both on new data describing adult height from 1899 to 1910 from comprehensive official Japanese army records and on data recording the regional variation in the intensity of cholera pandemics. By using a difference-in-differences estimation strategy, we find that exposure to pandemic cholera had stunting effects on the final height of men at that time. Our estimates also suggest that early-infancy exposure to cholera seems to have a stronger long-run effect on adult height than late-infancy exposure.

The long-run impacts of paid maternity leave on height and educational attainment

“…Our findings on the positive long-lasting impacts of paid maternity leave are consistent with studies showing the importance of early-life circumstances to long-term outcomes. Specifically, early-life exposure to negative shocks such as poverty and disease could leave irreversible consequences on cognitive development, health, and productivity in adulthood (Alderman et al, 2006;Almond, 2006;Duncan et al, 2010;Ogasawara and Inoue, 2018). In another vein, the results of our study are also in line with those highlighting the link between prenatal conditions and after-birth outcomes Nguyen, 2020, 2021).…”

“…Grasgruber et al (2014) demonstrate that early-nutrition levels, especially the consumption of high-quality proteins, can explain most of the differences in adult height. Incidences of major diseases during childhood and the prenatal period can also depress educational attainment and also adult stature as infections might take away nutrients and inflammatory diseases might thwart the growth of long bones (Almond, 2006;Batty et al, 2009;Herzog et al, 2014;Ogasawara and Inoue, 2018).…”

The effects of an epidemic on prenatal investments, childhood mortality and health of surviving children

“…The seminal study of Almond ( 2006 ) finds that in utero exposure to the 1918 influenza pandemic had long-term negative effects in terms of education attainment, physical disability, income and socioeconomic status. Closely related to our study, Ogasawara and Inoue ( 2018 ) and Ritter ( 2020 ) find negative long-term effects of prenatal exposure to the cholera epidemic among adults in Japan and Peru, respectively. A relatively smaller number of studies have shown that in utero shocks may have an effect on postnatal childhood mortality.…”

The long-run heterogeneous effects of a cholera pandemic on stature: Evidence from industrializing Japan

“… 6 In the late nineteenth-century Japan, cholera epidemic were not likely to affect the size of birth cohort or the risk of fetal deaths ( Ogasawara and Inoue, 2018 ). Thus, the potential mortality selection effects could be negligible.…”