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Long-run effects of gestation during the Dutch hunger winter famine on labor market and hospitalization outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • S. Scholte, Robert

    (VU University Amsterdam)

  • van den Berg, Gerard J.

    (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy)

  • Lindeboom, Maarten

    (VU University Amsterdam)

Abstract

The Dutch Hunger Winter (1944/45) is the most-studied famine in the literature on long-run effects of malnutrition in utero. Its temporal and spatial dermacations are clear, it was severe, it was anticipated, and nutritional conditions in society were favorable and stable before and after the famine. This is the first study to analyze effects of in utero exposure on labor market outcomes and hospitalization, and the first to use register data covering the full dutch population to examine long-run effects of this famine. We provide results of famine exposure by sub-interval of gestation. We find a significantly negative effect of exposure during the first trimester of gestation on employment outcomes 53 or more years after birth. Hospitalization rates in the years before retirement are higher after middle or late gestational exposure.

Suggested Citation

  • S. Scholte, Robert & van den Berg, Gerard J. & Lindeboom, Maarten, 2012. "Long-run effects of gestation during the Dutch hunger winter famine on labor market and hospitalization outcomes," Working Paper Series 2012:15, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2012_015
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Nutrition; ageing; developmental origins; morbidity; income; health; employment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination

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