Long-Term Health Effects of Malaria Exposure around Birth: Evidence from Colonial Taiwan
利用日据时期台湾的疟疾根除运动造成的死亡率变化，研究发现出生前后暴露于高疟疾风险的人，老年时患心血管疾病和认知功能下降的概率更高。
In the early twentieth century, the Japanese colonial government initiated an island-wide malaria eradication campaign in Taiwan, resulting in not only a rapid decline in malaria across time but also elimination of disparity across regions. Exploiting variations in malaria deaths caused by the campaign, we estimate causal effects of malaria exposure around birth on the health of elderly born in the colonial period. To mitigate potential biases caused by measurement errors and omitted confounders, we employ climatic factors to instrument for malaria deaths. Our findings suggest that people who were exposed to a high malaria risk around birth tend to have a higher likelihood of cardiovascular diseases and worse cognitive functions at old age.