This paper examines the long-term effects of health insurance on children's educational attainment in a developing country. Utilizing the county-by-county rollout of the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme in rural China, we find that exposure to the health insurance program in early life leads to improved educational attainment in adulthood. Empirical tests suggest that a short-term increase in health care utilization is unlikely to be a potential channel.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis paper employs a difference-in-differences strategy to examine the causal effect of exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic on interpersonal trust amidst zero-COVID policies in China. Using a nationally representative panel survey, we find that COVID-19 exposure leads to a decrease in the levels of generalized trust. We also show that the change in interpersonal trust varies across domains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfectious diseases put health of millions at risk and induce large socioeconomic costs each year. However, the long-term effects of exposure to infectious diseases on the elderly have received minimal attention. Using data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, this study adopts a differences-in-differences strategy to evaluate the long-term effects of epidemic exposure on old-age mortality.
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