Long-lasting consequences of war on disability

Abstract

This article investigates the impact of exposure to United States air force bombing during 1965–75 on the disability status of individuals in Vietnam in 2009. Using a combination of national census and US military data and an instrumental variable strategy which exploits the distance to the former North–South border as a quasi-experiment, the article finds a positive and significant impact of bombing exposure on district level disability rates 40 years after the war. The overall effect of bombing on the long-term disability rate among the Vietnamese population is highest among heavily bombed districts. Districts in the top bombing quintile experience a 25% relative increase in the rate of disability attributable to bombing compared with districts in the lowest bombing quintile. Effects are highest on the prevalence of severe disability and among cohorts before the war’s end. A smaller, yet significant, effect is found among cohorts born after the war. The article finds further evidence of indirect channels through which bombing may have impacted on long-term disability including adverse effects on nutritional environment and human capital attainment. These findings add to the evidence from Vietnam and indicate that wars inflict costs on the health of human populations that last longer than those relating to economic growth and welfare.

Long‐Term Effects of Vietnam War: Agent Orange and the Health of Vietnamese People After 30 Years

“…While unrelated to military herbicides during the Vietnam War, a study by Singhal (2019) examines the long-term effects of US bombing on the prevalence of mental illness among Vietnamese survivors in the affected areas. Palmer et al (2019) use a similar strategy, as well as the 2009 Vietnam Population Census, to examine the prevalence of disability.…”

“…Moreover, use of the post-war sample moderates the identification threat stemming from the nonrandomness of Agent Orange deposit points. We believe that our approach is superior to the instrumental method employed by Singhal (2019) and Palmer et al (2019). Inspired by Miguel and Roland (2011), these two studies employ geographical distance from the 17th Parallel demilitarized zone as an instrument in addressing the non-randomness of US bombing to estimate the long-term effects of US bombing on the mental health of the Vietnamese.…”

The Emancipatory Approach in Hospitality Research on Employees With Disabilities: An Auto-Ethnographic Research Note

“…The research team experienced a more complicated procedure to obtain ethics approval for this project in comparison with previous disability-related studies mentioned (Lysaght et al, 2016). The recruitment of research participants faced difficulties due to business owners and managers hesitating to give their approval, and the lack of statistical information about people with disabilities in Vietnam was also a barrier (Palmer et al, 2019). The most challenging issue was the social and cultural incompatibility of Vietnamese employees with disabilities to the research methods of a Western developed country.…”

Vocational training for demobilized ex-combatants with disabilities in Rwanda

“…Following wars and conflicts, disabilities are likely to be prevalent among survivors, accompanied by social exclusion of persons with disabilities from basic services such as health care, food, water, and shelter (Handicap International 2015;Kett and van Ommeren 2009;Klyman, Kouppari, and Mukhier 2007). In post-conflict countries, disability is strongly associated with poverty across multiple dimensions (Mactaggart et al 2019;Trani et al 2011) and has long-lasting consequences for their livelihoods and well-being (Han, Dagsvik, and Cheng 2020;Palmer et al 2019;Takasaki 2019). Disabled ex-combatants are confronted with social exclusion due to not only their disabilities, but also their ex-combatant status.…”