Heterogenous Mechanisms in WWII Stress Transmission: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

Abstract

This paper analyses how in utero exposure to maternal stress from WWII affects long-term health and economic outcomes and describes different mechanisms at work, showing that current health conditions are heterogeneously related to the type of fetal stressor. We exploit the Italian armistice of September 8th 1943 as exogenous variation in the war intensity, providing WWII long-run causal effects on objectively measured health and economic outcomes. We find that in utero exposure to intense WWII events had long-lasting effects on health and that Nazi massacres predict late-onset depression, while nutritional deprivation suffered in large cities had lasting effects on diabetes. Finally, we innovate by showing that these effects increase with the age of the treated individuals.

Technological Progress and Health Convergence: The Case of Penicillin in Postwar Italy

“…Clearly, destruc tion and the num ber miss ing and dead are directly cor re lated. In fact, as Atella, Di Porto, and Kopinska (2017) showed, where the war front lasted lon ger (i.e., Gustav line and Winter line), the local pop u la tion witnessed a more intense mil i tary pres ence as well as more civil ian deaths, often as a direct con se quence of the destruc tion caused by the aerial and ter res trial bomb ing.…”

“…The inten sityofwardestruc tionisquan ti fiedrel a tivetothemedian.Regionswithabove-mediancon flictdeaths are PiedmontValle d'Aosta, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Emilia Romagna, Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio, Lombardy, Trentino Alto Adige, Abruzzi and Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Campania, Sicilia, and Sardegna. See Atella, Di Porto, and Kopinska (2017) for a detailed descrip tion of the data used. We then com pute WWIIrelated death rates by divid ing death counts by the aver age regional pop u la tion in 1940-1945.…”

Selective mortality and fertility and long run health effects of prenatal wartime exposure

“…This is due to reduced access to schools, mainly resulting from destruction by bombardments. Atella et al (2017) study childhood exposure to high stress events (massacres and intense fighting) and famines in Italy in 1943 and demonstrate negative health impacts among the elderly. Havari and Peracchi (2017) find that exposure to high-impact WWII experiences during childhood leads to worse health and human capital outcomes among the elderly.…”

Birth in Times of War - an Investigation of Health, Mortality and Social Class Using Historical Clinical Records

“…Individuals exposed to WWII in utero or early-life have been shown to have higher morbidity and mortality rates, worse socio-economic outcomes and even a modified behavior at older ages (see e.g. Atella et al 2017;Jürges 2013;Kesternich et al 2014Kesternich et al , 2015Van den Berg et al 2016). These findings are based on samples of the surviving population.…”

“…Kesternich et al (2014) analyze retrospective life data and document that individuals exposed to WWII during childhood are more likely to suffer from diabetes and depression at old ages. Atella et al (2017) investigate the impact of WWII on health in an Italian context. They can link stress in early life caused by exposure to intense conflicts to depression, while exposure to famine appears to increase the probability of diabetes in later life.…”