E2017007                                                                   2017-07-08
By CHAO LIU AND GORDON G. LIU*

Abstract:

Schistosomiasis is endemic in over 70 countries, bringing about large economic and public health loss in tropical and subtropical areas. This study uses an exogenous disease control campaign in China to identify causal impact of early life exposure to schistosomiasis on lifetime outcomes. We find that the program led to increases in educational attainment, labor participation and the number of births. The results are robust to a set of specification checks and using IV estimates. Using the CFPS data set, we confirm the above results and find evidence of increased height for men, better cognitive functions and economic status.

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