Gender-Specific Effects of Prenatal Famine Exposure on Educational Attainment: Accounting for Selective Mortality

TL;DR

This study examines how prenatal famine exposure affects educational attainment, revealing similar adverse effects for both genders after accounting for gender-specific mortality biases.

Contribution

It introduces a method comparing siblings to address gender-specific selection bias in estimating fetal origin effects of famine.

Findings

Famine exposure increased illiteracy rates by 4 percentage points.

Famine exposure decreased years of schooling by 0.3 years.

Results show similar impacts for males and females.

Abstract

Selective mortality and fertility issues are persistent challenges in estimating the fetal origin effect, with attempts to address these issues being notably scarce. Evidence further suggests that selective mortality is more pronounced in males than in females. This study investigates the causal effects of prenatal exposure to the Great Chinese Famine on educational attainment by addressing gender-specific selection bias. We compare exposed individuals with their unexposed, same-gender siblings, using a famine intensity measure based on county-year level excess death rates. Our findings reveal remarkably similar consequences for both genders: on average, famine exposure increased illiteracy rates by 4 percentage points and decreased years of schooling by 0.3 years for both males and females. These results contribute to our understanding of the long-term impacts of prenatal malnutrition, while accounting for gender-specific selection biases.