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The Lasting Impact of Parental Early Life Malnutrition on Their Offspring: Evidence from the China Great Leap Forward Famine

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  • Kim, Seonghoon
  • Deng, Quheng
  • Fleisher, Belton M.
  • Li, Shi

Abstract

We investigate whether the effects of parents’ in utero malnutrition extend to the second generation (their children). Specifically, we explore whether the second generation’s level of schooling is negatively impacted by their parents’ malnutrition in utero, using the China Famine as a natural experiment. We find that, the impact of mother’s in utero malnutrition due to the Famine reduced second generation male and female entrance into junior secondary school by about 5–7 percentage points. We measure famine severity with provincial excess death rates instrumented by measures of adverse climate conditions, which corrects for possible biases induced by measurement errors and omitted variables. Our findings indicate the existence of an important second-generation multiplier of policies that support the nutrition of pregnant women and infants in any country where nutritional deficiencies remain today.

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  • Kim, Seonghoon & Deng, Quheng & Fleisher, Belton M. & Li, Shi, 2014. "The Lasting Impact of Parental Early Life Malnutrition on Their Offspring: Evidence from the China Great Leap Forward Famine," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 232-242.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:54:y:2014:i:c:p:232-242
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.08.007
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    Cited by:

    1. Lay Margaret J. & Norling Johannes, 2020. "The Consequences of the 1959–1961 Chinese Famine for Educational Attainment," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 20(2), pages 1-23, April.
    2. Matthias Blum & Christopher L. Colvin & Eoin McLaughlin, 2017. "Scarring and Selection in the Great Irish Famine," Discussion Papers in Environment and Development Economics 2017-10, University of St. Andrews, School of Geography and Sustainable Development.
    3. Seonghoon Kim & Belton Fleisher & Jessica Ya Sun, 2017. "The Long‐term Health Effects of Fetal Malnutrition: Evidence from the 1959–1961 China Great Leap Forward Famine," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(10), pages 1264-1277, October.
    4. Nourin Shabnam & Mehmet A. Ulubaşoğlu & Cahit Guven, 2022. "Food Affordability and Double Catastrophe in Early Life: Lessons from the 1974–75 Bangladesh Famine," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 98(S1), pages 24-51, September.
    5. Li, Jinhu & Menon, Nidhiya, 2020. "Echo Effects of Early-Life Health Shocks: The Intergenerational Consequences of Prenatal Malnutrition during the Great Leap Forward Famine in China," IZA Discussion Papers 13171, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Shabnam, Nourin & Guven, Cahit & Ulubasoglu, Mehmet, 2021. "Lack of Food Access and Double Catastrophe in Early Life: Lessons from the 1974–1975 Bangladesh Famine," MPRA Paper 109653, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Yao, Yuxin & Zhang, Yi, 2023. "The long-term and intergenerational effects of early-life hunger experience on human capital and labor market outcomes," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    8. Zhang, Zihan & Kim, Jun Hyung, 2023. "The Inheritance of Historical Trauma: Intergenerational Effects of Early-Life Exposure to Famine on Mental Health," IZA Discussion Papers 16385, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Cahit Guven & Trung Hoang & Muhammad H. Rahman & Mehmet A. Ulubaşoğlu, 2021. "Long‐term effects of malnutrition on early‐life famine survivors and their offspring: New evidence from the Great Vietnam Famine 1944–45," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(7), pages 1600-1627, July.

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