Abstract
This study examines the effects of improvements in infant health produced by the introduction in the late 1930s of sulfapyridine as treatment against pneumonia on outcomes in adulthood. On the basis of longitudinal individual data for the whole population of Sweden 1968–2012 and archival data on the availability of sulfapyridine, I apply a difference-in-differences approach and find that mitigation of pneumonia infection in infancy increased labor income in late adulthood by 2.8–5.1 percent. The beneficial effects are strong for health, measured by length of stay in hospital, but weaker for years of schooling. These effects are similar for men and women.
- Received August 2017.
- Accepted September 2018.
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