Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/328208 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 18078
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Preschool-aged children get sick frequently and spread disease to other family members. Despite the universality of this experience, there is limited causal evidence on the magnitudes and consequences of these externalities, especially for infant siblings with developing immune systems and brains. We use Danish administrative data to document that, before age one, younger siblings have 2-3 times higher hospitalization rates for respiratory conditions than older siblings. We combine birth order and within-municipality variation in respiratory disease prevalence among young children, and find lasting differential impacts of early-life respiratory disease exposure on younger siblings' earnings, educational attainment, chronic respiratory health and mental health-related outcomes.
Subjects: 
Infectious disease
Morbidity
Illness
Family
Children
Intergenerational transmission
Health economics
Denmark
JEL: 
I12
I18
J12
J13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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