Individual Behavior as a Pathway between Early-Life Shocks and Adult Health: Evidence from Hunger Episodes in Post-War Germany

Kesternich, Iris; Siflinger, Bettina; Smith, James P. und Winter, Joachim (2013): Individual Behavior as a Pathway between Early-Life Shocks and Adult Health: Evidence from Hunger Episodes in Post-War Germany. IZA Discussion Papers / Forschungsinstitut für Zukunft und Arbeit, Bonn,

Abstract

We investigate long-run effects of episodes of hunger experienced as a child on health status and behavioral outcomes in later life. We combine self-reported data on hunger experiences from SHARELIFE, a retrospective survey conducted as part of SHARE in Europe in 2009, with administrative data on food supply (caloric rations) in post-war Germany. The data suggest that individual behavior is a pathway between early life shocks and adult health: We find that those who experienced hunger spend a larger fraction of income on food. Taken together, our results confirm that in addition to the well-documented biological channel from early life circumstances to adult health, there is also a behavioral pathway.

• Dokumententyp: Paper
• Fakultät: Volkswirtschaft ; Volkswirtschaft > Lehrstühle > Seminar für Komparative Wirtschaftsforschung ; Volkswirtschaft > Lehrstühle > Seminar für empirische Wirtschaftsforschung
• Themengebiete: 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 330 Wirtschaft
• Sprache: Englisch