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Mass shootings and Infant Health in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Rakesh Banerjee

    (University of Exeter Business School)

  • Tushar Bharati

    (Economics Discipline, Business School, University of Western Australia)

Abstract

We use the spatial and temporal variation in mass shooting incidents to show that babies born in a county have, on average, lower weight and gestational age at birth, and are more likely to be low birth weight (bw < 2500) if their in utero period coincides with a higher number of fatalities in mass shooting incidents in the county. Infant mortality rates are also higher in years with higher fatalities. Using exogenous variation in the media coverage of mass shooting incidents due to competing newsworthy events, we provide suggestive evidence that the negative effect of mass shootings might be due to the psychological stress from exposure to news coverage of shooting incidents.

Suggested Citation

  • Rakesh Banerjee & Tushar Bharati, 2020. "Mass shootings and Infant Health in the United States," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 20-16, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwa:wpaper:20-16
    Note: MD5 = af57ee93a365d402554131b397784488
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Gunadi, Christian, 2021. "On the Tragedy of Mass Shooting: the Crime Effects," GLO Discussion Paper Series 951, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    mass shootings; infant mortality; birth weight; mental stress;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General

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