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The Review of Economics and Statistics Vol. 96 No. 1 2014

The Effects of World War II on Economic and Health Outcomes across Europe

Iris Kesternich1; Bettina Siflinger1; James P. Smith2; Joachim Winter1

1 University of Munich · 2 RAND

Abstract

We investigate long-run effects of World War II on socio-economic status and health of older individuals in Europe. We analyze data from SHARELIFE, a retrospective survey conducted as part of SHARE in Europe in 2009. SHARELIFE provides detailed data on events in childhood during and after the war for over 20,000 individuals in 13 European countries. We construct several measures of war exposure-experience of dispossession, persecution, combat in local areas, and hunger periods. Exposure to war and more importantly to individual-level shocks caused by the war significantly predicts economic and health outcomes at older ages.

DOI
10.1162/rest_a_00353
Volume
96
Issue
1
Pages
103-118
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref

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