Early-Life Health and Adult Circumstance in Developing Countries

A growing literature documents the links between long-term outcomes and health in the fetal period, infancy, and early childhood. Much of this literature focuses on rich countries, but researchers are increasingly taking advantage of new sources of data and identification to study the long reach of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of economics 2013-01, Vol.5 (1), p.1-36
Main Authors: Currie, Janet, Vogl, Tom
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Birth weight
Child development
Childhood
Children
Childrens health
Clinical outcomes
critical periods
Developing countries
Diseases
Economic conditions
Famine
fetal origins
Health outcomes
health production
LDCs
Mortality
Public health
Studies
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Summary:A growing literature documents the links between long-term outcomes and health in the fetal period, infancy, and early childhood. Much of this literature focuses on rich countries, but researchers are increasingly taking advantage of new sources of data and identification to study the long reach of childhood health in developing countries. Health in early life may be a more significant determinant of adult outcomes in these countries because health insults are more frequent, the capacity to remediate is more limited, and multiple shocks may interact. However, the underlying relationships may also be more difficult to measure, given significant mortality selection. We survey recent evidence on the adult correlates of early-life health and the long-term effects of shocks resulting from disease, famine, malnutrition, pollution, and war.
ISSN:1941-1383
1941-1391
DOI:10.1146/annurev-economics-081412-103704