What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Poorer : Adult Wages and the Early-Life Disease Environment in India
A growing literature documents links between early-life health and human capital, and between human capital and adult wages. Although most of this literature has focused on developed countries, economists have hypothesized that effects of early-lif...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank Group, Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/11/20421888/doesnt-kill-makes-poorer-adult-wages-early-life-disease-environment-india http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20644 |
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okr-10986-206442021-04-23T14:03:59Z What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Poorer : Adult Wages and the Early-Life Disease Environment in India Lawson, Nicholas Spears, Dean ADULT HEALTH ADULT LITERACY AGE GROUPS BABIES BONDS BURDEN OF DISEASE CAPITAL FORMATION CHILD HEALTH CHILD MORTALITY CITIZENS COMMUNITY EDUCATION CORPORATE PROFITS CULTURAL CHANGE DEFECATION DEMOGRAPHERS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT POLICY DIARRHEA DIARRHOEA DISCOUNT RATE DISCOUNT RATES DISCRIMINATION DISEASE DRINKING WATER EARLY CHILDHOOD ECONOMETRICS ECONOMIC BENEFITS ECONOMIC DEMOGRAPHY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC HISTORIANS ECONOMIC IMPACT ECONOMIC OUTCOMES ECONOMIC RESEARCH ECONOMICS ECONOMISTS ENERGY CONSUMPTION ENVIRONMENTAL ENVIRONMENTS EQUILIBRIUM EXPENDITURES EXTERNALITIES FAMILY STRUCTURE FEMALE LITERACY FOOD SECURITY FUTURE GENERATIONS FUTURE MOTHERS GDP GDP PER CAPITA GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM HEALTH CARE HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN BIOLOGY HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HUSBANDS HYGIENE INCOME TAXES INFANT INFANT MORTALITY INFANT MORTALITY RATE INFANT MORTALITY RATES INFECTIONS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY LABOR DEMAND LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKETS LABOUR LATRINES LIFE EXPECTANCY LIVE BIRTHS MALARIA MALNUTRITION MARGINAL UTILITY MATERNAL HEALTH MIGRATION MOTHER NATIONAL COUNCIL NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES NORMAL GOOD NUMBER OF DEATHS NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS NUMBER OF PEOPLE NUTRITION OLDER WORKERS PATHOGENS POLICY ANALYSIS POLICY DISCUSSIONS POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POLITICAL ECONOMY POOR HEALTH POPULATION DENSITY POPULATION GROWTH POSITIVE EFFECTS PRESENT VALUE PREVALENCE PRIMARY SCHOOL PRODUCTIVITY PROGRESS PUBLIC HEALTH REAL INTEREST RATE RELIGIOUS GROUPS RESPECT RICHER PEOPLE RURAL RESIDENTS SANITATION SKILLED MIGRANTS SKILLED WORKERS SOCIAL GROUP SOCIAL RESEARCH SOCIAL WELFARE SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS SPOUSES TAX RATES TAX REVENUE TAX REVENUES TREATMENT TROPICAL MEDICINE UNDERESTIMATES URBAN AREAS UTILITY FUNCTION VALUE ADDED WAGES WEALTH WELFARE FUNCTION WELFARE GAINS WORKFORCE YOUNG ADULT YOUNG WORKERS YOUNGER WORKERS A growing literature documents links between early-life health and human capital, and between human capital and adult wages. Although most of this literature has focused on developed countries, economists have hypothesized that effects of early-life health on adult economic outcomes could be even greater in developing countries. This paper asks whether the early-life disease environment in India influences adult economic wages. The paper uses two measures of early-life disease environment to investigate this question: infant mortality rates and open defecation. A district-level differences-in-differences strategy is used to show that men born in district-years with lower infant mortality and better sanitation earned plausibly higher wages in their 20s and 30s. The effect estimates are applied to calculate the fiscal and welfare consequences of the disease environment, which are considerable. In particular, eliminating open defecation would increase tax revenue by enough to offset completely a cost to the government of over \$400 per household that stops defecating in the open. A fiscally neutral elimination of open defecation in India would increase the net present value of lifetime wages by more than \$1,800 for an average male worker born today. These large economic benefits ignore any other benefits of improved health or reduced mortality. The result suggests that the disease environment could have important effects on developing-country economic outcomes. 2014-12-03T22:00:29Z 2014-12-03T22:00:29Z 2014-11 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/11/20421888/doesnt-kill-makes-poorer-adult-wages-early-life-disease-environment-india http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20644 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7121 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank Group, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research South Asia India |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
ADULT HEALTH ADULT LITERACY AGE GROUPS BABIES BONDS BURDEN OF DISEASE CAPITAL FORMATION CHILD HEALTH CHILD MORTALITY CITIZENS COMMUNITY EDUCATION CORPORATE PROFITS CULTURAL CHANGE DEFECATION DEMOGRAPHERS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT POLICY DIARRHEA DIARRHOEA DISCOUNT RATE DISCOUNT RATES DISCRIMINATION DISEASE DRINKING WATER EARLY CHILDHOOD ECONOMETRICS ECONOMIC BENEFITS ECONOMIC DEMOGRAPHY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC HISTORIANS ECONOMIC IMPACT ECONOMIC OUTCOMES ECONOMIC RESEARCH ECONOMICS ECONOMISTS ENERGY CONSUMPTION ENVIRONMENTAL ENVIRONMENTS EQUILIBRIUM EXPENDITURES EXTERNALITIES FAMILY STRUCTURE FEMALE LITERACY FOOD SECURITY FUTURE GENERATIONS FUTURE MOTHERS GDP GDP PER CAPITA GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM HEALTH CARE HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN BIOLOGY HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HUSBANDS HYGIENE INCOME TAXES INFANT INFANT MORTALITY INFANT MORTALITY RATE INFANT MORTALITY RATES INFECTIONS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY LABOR DEMAND LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKETS LABOUR LATRINES LIFE EXPECTANCY LIVE BIRTHS MALARIA MALNUTRITION MARGINAL UTILITY MATERNAL HEALTH MIGRATION MOTHER NATIONAL COUNCIL NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES NORMAL GOOD NUMBER OF DEATHS NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS NUMBER OF PEOPLE NUTRITION OLDER WORKERS PATHOGENS POLICY ANALYSIS POLICY DISCUSSIONS POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POLITICAL ECONOMY POOR HEALTH POPULATION DENSITY POPULATION GROWTH POSITIVE EFFECTS PRESENT VALUE PREVALENCE PRIMARY SCHOOL PRODUCTIVITY PROGRESS PUBLIC HEALTH REAL INTEREST RATE RELIGIOUS GROUPS RESPECT RICHER PEOPLE RURAL RESIDENTS SANITATION SKILLED MIGRANTS SKILLED WORKERS SOCIAL GROUP SOCIAL RESEARCH SOCIAL WELFARE SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS SPOUSES TAX RATES TAX REVENUE TAX REVENUES TREATMENT TROPICAL MEDICINE UNDERESTIMATES URBAN AREAS UTILITY FUNCTION VALUE ADDED WAGES WEALTH WELFARE FUNCTION WELFARE GAINS WORKFORCE YOUNG ADULT YOUNG WORKERS YOUNGER WORKERS |
| spellingShingle |
ADULT HEALTH ADULT LITERACY AGE GROUPS BABIES BONDS BURDEN OF DISEASE CAPITAL FORMATION CHILD HEALTH CHILD MORTALITY CITIZENS COMMUNITY EDUCATION CORPORATE PROFITS CULTURAL CHANGE DEFECATION DEMOGRAPHERS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT POLICY DIARRHEA DIARRHOEA DISCOUNT RATE DISCOUNT RATES DISCRIMINATION DISEASE DRINKING WATER EARLY CHILDHOOD ECONOMETRICS ECONOMIC BENEFITS ECONOMIC DEMOGRAPHY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC HISTORIANS ECONOMIC IMPACT ECONOMIC OUTCOMES ECONOMIC RESEARCH ECONOMICS ECONOMISTS ENERGY CONSUMPTION ENVIRONMENTAL ENVIRONMENTS EQUILIBRIUM EXPENDITURES EXTERNALITIES FAMILY STRUCTURE FEMALE LITERACY FOOD SECURITY FUTURE GENERATIONS FUTURE MOTHERS GDP GDP PER CAPITA GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM HEALTH CARE HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN BIOLOGY HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HUSBANDS HYGIENE INCOME TAXES INFANT INFANT MORTALITY INFANT MORTALITY RATE INFANT MORTALITY RATES INFECTIONS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY LABOR DEMAND LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKETS LABOUR LATRINES LIFE EXPECTANCY LIVE BIRTHS MALARIA MALNUTRITION MARGINAL UTILITY MATERNAL HEALTH MIGRATION MOTHER NATIONAL COUNCIL NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES NORMAL GOOD NUMBER OF DEATHS NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS NUMBER OF PEOPLE NUTRITION OLDER WORKERS PATHOGENS POLICY ANALYSIS POLICY DISCUSSIONS POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POLITICAL ECONOMY POOR HEALTH POPULATION DENSITY POPULATION GROWTH POSITIVE EFFECTS PRESENT VALUE PREVALENCE PRIMARY SCHOOL PRODUCTIVITY PROGRESS PUBLIC HEALTH REAL INTEREST RATE RELIGIOUS GROUPS RESPECT RICHER PEOPLE RURAL RESIDENTS SANITATION SKILLED MIGRANTS SKILLED WORKERS SOCIAL GROUP SOCIAL RESEARCH SOCIAL WELFARE SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS SPOUSES TAX RATES TAX REVENUE TAX REVENUES TREATMENT TROPICAL MEDICINE UNDERESTIMATES URBAN AREAS UTILITY FUNCTION VALUE ADDED WAGES WEALTH WELFARE FUNCTION WELFARE GAINS WORKFORCE YOUNG ADULT YOUNG WORKERS YOUNGER WORKERS Lawson, Nicholas Spears, Dean What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Poorer : Adult Wages and the Early-Life Disease Environment in India |
| geographic_facet |
South Asia India |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7121 |
| description |
A growing literature documents links
between early-life health and human capital, and between
human capital and adult wages. Although most of this
literature has focused on developed countries, economists
have hypothesized that effects of early-life health on adult
economic outcomes could be even greater in developing
countries. This paper asks whether the early-life disease
environment in India influences adult economic wages. The
paper uses two measures of early-life disease environment to
investigate this question: infant mortality rates and open
defecation. A district-level differences-in-differences
strategy is used to show that men born in district-years
with lower infant mortality and better sanitation earned
plausibly higher wages in their 20s and 30s. The effect
estimates are applied to calculate the fiscal and welfare
consequences of the disease environment, which are
considerable. In particular, eliminating open defecation
would increase tax revenue by enough to offset completely a
cost to the government of over \$400 per household that
stops defecating in the open. A fiscally neutral elimination
of open defecation in India would increase the net present
value of lifetime wages by more than \$1,800 for an average
male worker born today. These large economic benefits ignore
any other benefits of improved health or reduced mortality.
The result suggests that the disease environment could have
important effects on developing-country economic outcomes. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Lawson, Nicholas Spears, Dean |
| author_facet |
Lawson, Nicholas Spears, Dean |
| author_sort |
Lawson, Nicholas |
| title |
What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Poorer : Adult Wages and the Early-Life Disease Environment in India |
| title_short |
What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Poorer : Adult Wages and the Early-Life Disease Environment in India |
| title_full |
What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Poorer : Adult Wages and the Early-Life Disease Environment in India |
| title_fullStr |
What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Poorer : Adult Wages and the Early-Life Disease Environment in India |
| title_full_unstemmed |
What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Poorer : Adult Wages and the Early-Life Disease Environment in India |
| title_sort |
what doesn't kill you makes you poorer : adult wages and the early-life disease environment in india |
| publisher |
World Bank Group, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2014 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/11/20421888/doesnt-kill-makes-poorer-adult-wages-early-life-disease-environment-india http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20644 |
| _version_ |
1764446932592230400 |