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How Much Schizophrenia Do Famines Cause?

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  • Ó Gráda, Cormac
  • Lee, Chihua
  • Lumey, L. H.

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Since the 1970s, famines have been widely invoked as natural experiments in research into the long-term impact of foetal exposure to nutritional shocks. That research has produced compelling evidence for a robust link between foetal exposure and the odds of developing schizophrenia. However, the implications of that research for the human cost of famines in the longer run has not been investigated. We address the connection between foetal origins and schizophrenia with that question in mind. The impact turns out to be very modest – much less than one per cent of the associated famine death tolls – across a selection of case studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Ó Gráda, Cormac & Lee, Chihua & Lumey, L. H., 2023. "How Much Schizophrenia Do Famines Cause?," MPRA Paper 119448, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:119448
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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/119448/1/MPRA_paper_119448.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sukanta Saha & David Chant & Joy Welham & John McGrath, 2005. "A Systematic Review of the Prevalence of Schizophrenia," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 2(5), pages 1-1, May.
    2. Douglas Almond & Janet Currie, 2011. "Killing Me Softly: The Fetal Origins Hypothesis," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(3), pages 153-172, Summer.
    3. Naumenko, Natalya, 2021. "The Political Economy of Famine: The Ukrainian Famine of 1933," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(1), pages 156-197, March.
    4. Peter Ekamper & Govert Bijwaard & Frans van Poppel & L. H. Lumey, 2017. "War-related excess mortality in The Netherlands, 1944–45: New estimates of famine- and non-famine-related deaths from national death records," Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(2), pages 113-128, April.
    5. Song, Shige & Wang, Wei & Hu, Peifeng, 2009. "Famine, death, and madness: Schizophrenia in early adulthood after prenatal exposure to the Chinese Great Leap Forward Famine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1315-1321, April.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    famine; schizophrenia; foetal origins;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • N0 - Economic History - - General

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