Working Paper: NBER ID: w24753
Authors: Miriam Gensowski; Torben Heien Nielsen; Nete Munk Nielsen; Maya Rossin-Slater; Miriam Wst
Abstract: A large literature documents that childhood health shocks have lasting negative consequences for adult outcomes. This paper demonstrates that the adversity of childhood physical disability can be mediated by individuals' educational and occupational choices, which reflect their comparative advantage. We merge records on children hospitalized with poliomyelitis during the 1952 Danish epidemic to census and administrative data, and exploit quasi-random variation in paralysis incidence. While childhood disability increases the likelihood of early retirement and disability pension receipt at age 50, paralytic polio survivors obtain higher education and are more likely to work in white-collar and computer-demanding jobs than their non-paralytic counterparts.
Keywords: Childhood Health; Polio Epidemic; Long-term Outcomes; Educational Choices; Occupational Choices
JEL Codes: I10; I14; I24; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| childhood disability due to paralytic polio (I12) | likelihood of early retirement (J26) |
| childhood disability due to paralytic polio (I12) | disability pension receipt at age 50 (H55) |
| childhood disability due to paralytic polio (I12) | higher education levels (I23) |
| childhood disability due to paralytic polio (I12) | likelihood of working in white-collar jobs (J29) |
| childhood disability due to paralytic polio (I12) | likelihood of working in computer-demanding jobs (J29) |
| higher education levels (I23) | likelihood of being employed as unskilled workers (F66) |
| higher education levels (I23) | likelihood of holding university degrees by age 50 (J79) |
| childhood disability due to paralytic polio (I12) | likelihood of being on disability insurance (J14) |
| educational attainment (I21) | labor market outcomes (J48) |