SMU SOE Seminar (July 5, 2019): Fetal Origins of Mental Health: Evidence from Natural Disasters in Taiwan

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ABSTRACT This paper examines the impact of poor intrauterine environment on psycho-logical well-being later in life caused by severe typhoons that took place in Taiwan. Exploiting time and geographical variation, we compare the mental health of individuals who were exposed to severe typhoons while in utero in landfall counties to those who had no fetal exposure to severe typhoons. We ﬁnd that the likelihood of mental disorders in adulthood resulting from fetal exposure to severe typhoons increased by 12%. The incidence of mood disorder (e.g. depression) and the use of antidepressant increased by more than 40%. The eﬀects are more prominent for women. Keywords: Mental health, Fetal origins, Natural disasters. JEL Codes: I12, I15, I19, I31, N35. Click here to view the paper. Click here to view the CV.
		PRESENTER Elaine Liu University of Houston
		RESEARCH FIELDS Health Economics Development Economics Behavioral Economics Labor Economics
		DATE: 5 July 2019 (Friday)
		TIME: 4pm - 5.30pm
		VENUE: Meeting Room 5.1, Level 5 School of Economics Singapore Management University 90 Stamford Road Singapore 178903