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The impact of Chernobyl on health and labour market performance

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  • Lehmann, Hartmut
  • Wadsworth, Jonathan

Abstract

Using longitudinal data from Ukraine we examine the extent of any long-lasting effects of exposure to the Chernobyl disaster on the health and labour market performance of the adult workforce. Variation in the local area level of radiation fallout from the Chernobyl accident is considered as a random exogenous shock with which to try to establish its causal impact on poor health, labour force participation, hours worked and wages. There appears to be a significant positive association between local area-level radiation dosage and perception of poor health, though much weaker associations between local area-level dosage and other specific self-reported health conditions. There is also some evidence to suggest that those who lived in areas more exposed to Chernobyl-induced radiation have significantly lower levels of labour market performance 20 years on.

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  • Lehmann, Hartmut & Wadsworth, Jonathan, 2011. "The impact of Chernobyl on health and labour market performance," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 843-857.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:30:y:2011:i:5:p:843-857
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2011.07.011
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    Cited by:

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    2. Marino, Francesca & Nunziata, Luca, 2022. "Radioactive decay, health and social capital: Lessons from the Chernobyl experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 315-340.
    3. Managi, Shunsuke & Guan, Dabo, 2017. "Multiple disasters management: Lessons from the Fukushima triple events," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 114-122.
    4. Mehic, Adrian, 2023. "The electoral consequences of environmental accidents: Evidence from Chernobyl," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    5. 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.
    6. Alistair Munro & Shunsuke Managi, 2017. "Going Back: Radiation and Intentions to Return amongst Households Evacuated after the Great Tohoku Earthquake," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 77-93, June.
    7. Alexander M. Danzer & Natalia Danzer & Anita Fichtl & Anita Dietrich, 2016. "Die psychischen Langzeitfolgen der Nuklearkatastrophe von Tschernobyl," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 69(07), pages 33-38, April.
    8. Alistair Munro, 2012. "Fukushima Dai-Ichi and the Economics of Nuclear Decontamination," GRIPS Discussion Papers 12-01, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
    9. Elsner, Benjamin & Wozny, Florian, 2023. "Long-run exposure to low-dose radiation reduces cognitive performance," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    10. Hartmut Lehmann & Alexander Muravyev & Klaus Zimmermann, 2012. "The Ukrainian longitudinal monitoring survey: towards a better understanding of labor markets in transition," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-15, December.
    11. Oleksandr Kubatko & Oleksandra Kubatko, 2019. "Economic estimations of air pollution health nexus," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 1507-1517, June.
    12. Elsner, Benjamin & Wozny, Florian, 2018. "The Human Capital Cost of Radiation: Long-Run Evidence from Exposure Outside the Womb," IZA Discussion Papers 11408, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Yamamura, Eiji, 2016. "Impact of the Fukushima nuclear accident on obesity of children in Japan (2008–2014)," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 110-121.
    14. Danzer, Alexander M. & Danzer, Natalia, 2016. "The long-run consequences of Chernobyl: Evidence on subjective well-being, mental health and welfare," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 47-60.
    15. Danzer, Alexander M. & Danzer, Natalia, 2011. "The Long-Term Effects of the Chernobyl Catastrophe on Subjective Well-Being and Mental Health," IZA Discussion Papers 5906, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Shreyasee Das & Shatanjaya Dasgupta, 2023. "Hidden costs of industrial disasters: Marriage market consequences of the Bhopal Gas Disaster," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 43(2), pages 813-829.
    17. Peter G van der Velden & Ruud J A Muffels & Roy Peijen & Mark W G Bosmans, 2019. "Wages and employment security following a major disaster: A 17-year population-based longitudinal comparative study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(3), pages 1-22, March.
    18. Kuralbayeva, Karlygash & Rienzo, Cinzia & Wong, Po Yin & Guerrero-Serdan, Gaby, 2025. "Long-Term Health Effects of Nuclear Tests: The Semipalatinsk Case," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1559, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    19. Meyers, Keith A., 2017. "In the Shadow of the Mushroom Cloud: Nuclear Testing, Radioactive Fallout and Damage to U.S. Agriculture," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258121, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    20. Yamamura, Eiji, 2015. "Impact of the Fukushima nuclear accident on obesity of children in Japan, using data from 2008 to 2014," MPRA Paper 67076, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Ranxin Liao & Jungwon Min, 2021. "How the Public Shaming of Peers Enhances Corporate Social Performance: Evidence from Blacklisted Firms in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-17, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Chernobyl; Health; Labour Market performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H00 - Public Economics - - General - - - General
    • J00 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - General

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