Working Paper: NBER ID: w28642
Authors: Prashant Bharadwaj; Manudeep Bhuller; Katrine V. Løken; Mirjam Wentzel
Abstract: We use data on all middle and high school-aged children who survived a mass shooting incident on July 22, 2011 in Utøya, Norway, to understand how such events affect survivors, their families, and their peers. Using a difference-in-differences design to compare survivors to a matched control group, we find that in the short run children who survive have substantially lower GPA (nearly 0.5 SD), increased health visits, and more mental health diagnoses (nearly 400% increase). In the medium run, survivors have fewer years of schooling completed and lower labor force participation. Parents and siblings of survivors are also impacted, experiencing substantial increases in doctor visits and mental health diagnoses. However, there appear to be limited impacts on school-aged peers of survivors. While this event affected the entire country, we show that survivors and their families bear significant costs despite robust social safety nets and universal access to healthcare.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: I0
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Surviving a mass shooting (H84) | Decrease in GPA (C29) |
| Surviving a mass shooting (H84) | Increase in health visits (I19) |
| Surviving a mass shooting (H84) | Increase in mental health diagnoses (I12) |
| Surviving a mass shooting (H84) | Fewer years of schooling (I21) |
| Surviving a mass shooting (H84) | Lower labor force participation rates (J49) |
| Surviving a mass shooting (H84) | College completion likelihood (aged 15-18) (I21) |
| Parents and siblings of survivors (J12) | Increased doctor visits (I19) |
| Parents and siblings of survivors (J12) | Increased mental health diagnoses (I12) |
| Siblings of survivors (J12) | Lower test scores (D29) |
| Surviving a mass shooting (H84) | No significant effects on school-aged peers (I24) |