Germs in the Family: The Short-and Long-Term Consequences of Intrahousehold Disease Spread

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Daysal, N. Meltem; Ding, Hu, I; Rossin-Slater, Maya; Schwandt, Hannes
• 署名单位: University of Copenhagen; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; IZA Institute Labor Economics; Fudan University; Shanghai Institute of International Finance & Economics; Stanford Medicine; Stanford University; National Bureau of Economic Research; Northwestern University; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282; 1944-7981
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.20231521
• 发表日期: 2026-07
• 页码: 2643-2684
• 关键词: IN-UTERO EXPOSURE; malaria eradication; birth-order; RESPIRATORY-INFECTIONS; prenatal exposure; outcomes evidence; Health shocks; immune-system; MENTAL-HEALTH; labor-market

摘要

Preschool-aged children get sick frequently and spread disease to other family members. Despite the universality of this experience, there is limited causal evidence on the magnitudes and consequences of these externalities, especially for infant siblings with developing immune systems and brains. We show in Danish administrative data that during infancy, younger siblings have two to three times higher hospitalization rates for respiratory conditions than older siblings. We combine birth order and within-municipality variation in respiratory disease prevalence among young children, finding lasting differential impacts of early-life respiratory disease exposure on younger siblings' earnings, educational attainment, chronic respiratory health, and mental health-related outcomes. (JEL D13, D62, I12, J12, J13, J24, J31)