IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp15398.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Public Health Policy at Scale: Impact of a Government-Sponsored Information Campaign on Infant Mortality in Denmark

Author

Listed:
  • Altindag, Onur

    (Bentley University)

  • Greve, Jane

    (VIVE - The Danish Centre for Social Science Research)

  • Tekin, Erdal

    (American University)

Abstract

We evaluate the impact of a nationwide public health intervention on deaths from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), using population data from Denmark in a regression discontinuity research design. The information campaign–implemented primarily through a universal nurse home visiting program–reduced infant mortality by 17.2 percent and saved between 11.6-13.5 lives over 10,000 births. The estimated effect sizes are 11-14 times larger among low birthweight and preterm infants relative to the overall population. Improvement in infant mortality is concentrated among those with low socio-economic status and with limited access to health information, thereby reducing health inequities at birth.

Suggested Citation

  • Altindag, Onur & Greve, Jane & Tekin, Erdal, 2022. "Public Health Policy at Scale: Impact of a Government-Sponsored Information Campaign on Infant Mortality in Denmark," IZA Discussion Papers 15398, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15398
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp15398.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Komisarow, Sarah, 2017. "Public health regulation and mortality: Evidence from early 20th century milk laws," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 126-144.
    2. D. Mark Anderson & Kerwin Kofi Charles & Claudio Las Heras Olivares & Daniel I. Rees, 2019. "Was the First Public Health Campaign Successful?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 143-175, April.
    3. David Cutler & Angus Deaton & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2006. "The Determinants of Mortality," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(3), pages 97-120, Summer.
    4. Pascaline Dupas, 2011. "Do Teenagers Respond to HIV Risk Information? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 1-34, January.
    5. de Walque, Damien, 2007. "How does the impact of an HIV/AIDS information campaign vary with educational attainment? Evidence from rural Uganda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 686-714, November.
    6. David Cutler & Grant Miller, 2005. "The role of public health improvements in health advances: The twentieth-century United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-22, February.
    7. Watson, Tara, 2006. "Public health investments and the infant mortality gap: Evidence from federal sanitation interventions on U.S. Indian reservations," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(8-9), pages 1537-1560, September.
    8. Loewenstein, George & Price, Joseph & Volpp, Kevin, 2016. "Habit formation in children: Evidence from incentives for healthy eating," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 47-54.
    9. Carolyn Moehling & Melissa Thomasson, 2014. "Saving Babies: The Impact of Public Education Programs on Infant Mortality," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(2), pages 367-386, April.
    10. Sonia Bhalotra & Martin Karlsson & Therese Nilsson, 2017. "Infant Health and Longevity: Evidence from A Historical Intervention in Sweden," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 15(5), pages 1101-1157.
    11. Reshmaan Hussam & Atonu Rabbani & Giovanni Reggiani & Natalia Rigol, 2017. "Habit Formation and Rational Addiction: A Field Experiment in Handwashing," Harvard Business School Working Papers 18-030, Harvard Business School.
    12. Alice Chen & Emily Oster & Heidi Williams, 2016. "Why Is Infant Mortality Higher in the United States Than in Europe?," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 89-124, May.
    13. Jonas Hjort & Mikkel Sølvsten & Miriam Wüst, 2017. "Universal Investment in Infants and Long-Run Health: Evidence from Denmark's 1937 Home Visiting Program," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 78-104, October.
    14. Janet A. Weiss & Mary Tschirhart, 1994. "Public information campaigns as policy instruments," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(1), pages 82-119.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aline Bütikofer & René Karadakic & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2021. "Income Inequality and Mortality: A Norwegian Perspective," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(1), pages 193-221, March.
    2. Marein, Brian, 2023. "Public health departments and the mortality transition in Latin America: Evidence from Puerto Rico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    3. James J. Feigenbaum & Christopher Muller & Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, 2019. "Regional and Racial Inequality in Infectious Disease Mortality in U.S. Cities, 1900–1948," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(4), pages 1371-1388, August.
    4. Lauren Hoehn‐Velasco & Elizabeth Wrigley‐Field, 2022. "City health departments, public health expenditures, and urban mortality over 1910–1940," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(2), pages 929-953, April.
    5. Alex Hollingsworth & Krzysztof Karbownik & Melissa A. Thomasson & Anthony Wray, 2022. "The Gift of a Lifetime: The Hospital, Modern Medicine, and Mortality," NBER Working Papers 30663, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Bhalotra, Sonia R. & Karlsson, Martin & Nilsson, Therese, 2015. "Infant Health and Longevity: Evidence from a Historical Trial in Sweden," IZA Discussion Papers 8969, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Bhalotra, Sonia & Karlsson, Martin & Nilsson, Therese, 2014. "Life Expectancy and Mother-Baby Interventions. Evidence from A Historical Trial," Ruhr Economic Papers 504, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    8. Sonia Bhalotra & Martin Karlsson & Therese Nilsson, 2014. "Life Expectancy and Mother-Baby Interventions," CINCH Working Paper Series 1404, Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Competent in Competition and Health.
    9. Kristina Czura & Andreas Menzel & Martina Miotto, 2019. "Menstrual Health, Worker Productivity and Well-being among Female Bangladeshi Garment Workers," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp649, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    10. Hoehn-Velasco, Lauren, 2018. "Explaining declines in US rural mortality, 1910–1933: The role of county health departments," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 42-72.
    11. Galofré Vilà, Gregori, 2020. "Quantifying the impact of aid to dependent children: An epidemiological framework⁎," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    12. Bhalotra, Sonia R. & Clarke, Damian & Gomes, Joseph & Venkataramani, Atheendar, 2018. "Maternal Mortality and Women's Political Participation," IZA Discussion Papers 11590, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Sonia Bhalotra & Damian Clarke & Joseph Flavian Gomes & Atheendar Venkataramani, 2023. "Maternal Mortality and Women’s Political Power," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 21(5), pages 2172-2208.
    14. Daniel Gallardo‐Albarrán, 2020. "Sanitary infrastructures and the decline of mortality in Germany, 1877–1913," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(3), pages 730-757, August.
    15. Stefan Bauernschuster & Anastasia Driva & Erik Hornung, 2020. "Bismarck’s Health Insurance and the Mortality Decline [Disease and Development: The Effect of Life Expectancy on Economic Growth]," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(5), pages 2561-2607.
    16. Gabriella Conti, 2013. "The Developmental Origins of Health Inequality," Research on Economic Inequality, in: Health and Inequality, volume 21, pages 285-309, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    17. Rodrigo R. Soares, 2007. "On the Determinants of Mortality Reductions in the Developing World," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 33(2), pages 247-287, June.
    18. Katherine Eriksson & Gregory T. Niemesh & Melissa Thomasson, 2018. "Revising Infant Mortality Rates for the Early Twentieth Century United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2001-2024, December.
    19. Aline Bütikofer & Katrine V. Løken & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2019. "Infant Health Care and Long-Term Outcomes," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(2), pages 341-354, May.
    20. Ogasawara, Kota & Matsushita, Yukitoshi, 2018. "Public health and multiple-phase mortality decline: Evidence from industrializing Japan," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 198-210.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    SIDS; information campaign; infant mortality; Denmark;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15398. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.