What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Poorer : Adult Wages and the Early-Life Disease Environment in India
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World Bank Group, Washington, DC
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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.
Palabras clave
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