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The intergenerational legacy of the 1959–1961 Great Chinese Famine on children’s cognitive development

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  • Tan, Chih Ming
  • Tan, Zhibo
  • Zhang, Xiaobo

Abstract

We investigate the effect of early exposure to malnutrition on the cognitive abilities of the offspring of survivors in the context of a natural experiment; i.e., the Great Chinese Famine (GCF) of 1959–61. We employ a novel dataset – the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) – to do so. The paper finds that the cognitive abilities of children whose fathers were born in rural areas during the famine years (1959–1961) were impaired by exposure to the GCF and the negative effect was greater for girls than boys, whereas children whose mothers were born in rural areas during the famine years were not affected. The uncovered gender-specific effect is almost entirely attributable to son preference exhibited in families with male famine survivors.

Suggested Citation

  • Tan, Chih Ming & Tan, Zhibo & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2023. "The intergenerational legacy of the 1959–1961 Great Chinese Famine on children’s cognitive development," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:51:y:2023:i:c:s1570677x23000813
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2023.101300
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Famine; Health; China; Intergenerational transmission; Son preference;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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