Fertility and Early-Life Mortality: Evidence from Smallpox Vaccination in Sweden
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Fertility and Early-Life Mortality : Evidence from Smallpox Vaccination in Sweden. / Ager, Philipp; Hansen, Casper Worm; Jensen, Peter Sandholt.
In: Journal of the European Economic Association, 02.06.2017, p. 1-35.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Fertility and Early-Life Mortality
T2 - Evidence from Smallpox Vaccination in Sweden
AU - Ager, Philipp
AU - Hansen, Casper Worm
AU - Jensen, Peter Sandholt
PY - 2017/6/2
Y1 - 2017/6/2
N2 - The smallpox vaccination method was the paramount medical innovation of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. We exploit the introduction of the smallpox vaccine in Sweden to identify the causal effect of early-life mortality on fertility. Our analysis shows that parishes in counties with higher levels of smallpox mortality prior to the introduction of vaccination experienced greater declines in infant mortality afterward. Exploiting this finding in an instrumental-variable approach reveals that the decline in infant mortality had a negative effect on the number of children born, whereas we find a small insignificant effect on the number of surviving children and natural population growth.
AB - The smallpox vaccination method was the paramount medical innovation of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. We exploit the introduction of the smallpox vaccine in Sweden to identify the causal effect of early-life mortality on fertility. Our analysis shows that parishes in counties with higher levels of smallpox mortality prior to the introduction of vaccination experienced greater declines in infant mortality afterward. Exploiting this finding in an instrumental-variable approach reveals that the decline in infant mortality had a negative effect on the number of children born, whereas we find a small insignificant effect on the number of surviving children and natural population growth.
KW - Det Samfundsvidenskabelige Fakultet
U2 - 10.1093/jeea/jvx014
DO - 10.1093/jeea/jvx014
M3 - Tidsskriftartikel
SP - 1
EP - 35
JO - Journal of the European Economic Association
JF - Journal of the European Economic Association
SN - 1542-4774
ER -
ID: 178705867