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Heterogenous Mechanisms in WWII Stress Transmission: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

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Abstract

This paper analyses how in utero exposure to maternal stress from WWII affects long-term health and economic outcomes and describes different mechanisms at work, showing that current health conditions are heterogeneously related to the type of fetal stressor. We exploit the Italian armistice of September 8th 1943 as exogenous variation in the war intensity, providing WWII long-run causal effects on objectively measured health and economic outcomes. We find that in utero exposure to intense WWII events had long- lasting effects on health and that Nazi massacres predict late-onset depression, while nutritional deprivation suffered in large cities had lasting effects on diabetes. Finally, we innovate by showing that these effects increase with the age of the treated individuals.

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  • Vincenzo Atella & Edoardo Di Porto & Joanna Kopinska, 2017. "Heterogenous Mechanisms in WWII Stress Transmission: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," CSEF Working Papers 479, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    • Handle: RePEc:sef:csefwp:479
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    1. van Ewijk, Reyn & Lindeboom, Maarten, 2022. "Selective mortality and fertility and long run health effects of prenatal wartime exposure," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    2. Nadine Geiger & Sebastian Wichert, 2019. "Birth in times of war - An investigation of health, mortality and social class using historical clinical records," CESifo Working Paper Series 7593, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fetal programming hypothesis; War exposure; Nazi massacres; Stress; Famine; Chronic diseases; Health expenditure; Long-term effects; Italy.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

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