Fertility and Early-Life Mortality: Evidence from Smallpox Vaccination in Sweden

Philipp Ager; Casper Worm Hansen; Peter Sandholt Jensen

doi:10.1093/jeea/jvx014

Fertility and Early-Life Mortality: Evidence from Smallpox Vaccination in Sweden

Philipp Ager, Casper Worm Hansen, Peter Sandholt Jensen

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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.

Original language	Danish
Journal	Journal of the European Economic Association
Pages (from-to)	1-35
Number of pages	35
ISSN	1542-4766
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/jeea/jvx014
Publication status	Published - 1 Apr 2018

Keywords

Faculty of Social Sciences

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1093/jeea/jvx014

Cite this

@article{99d05692a19a45b3beb19578bbae0cd9,

title = "Fertility and Early-Life Mortality: Evidence from Smallpox Vaccination in Sweden",

abstract = "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.",

keywords = "Det Samfundsvidenskabelige Fakultet",

author = "Philipp Ager and Hansen, {Casper Worm} and Jensen, {Peter Sandholt}",

year = "2018",

month = apr,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1093/jeea/jvx014",

language = "Dansk",

pages = "1--35",

journal = "Journal of the European Economic Association",

issn = "1542-4766",

publisher = "Wiley",

}

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 - 2018/4/1

Y1 - 2018/4/1

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

SN - 1542-4766

SP - 1

EP - 35

JO - Journal of the European Economic Association

JF - Journal of the European Economic Association

ER -