The Hidden Costs of Natural Disasters: In Utero Environment and Mental Health in Adulthood
2016/01/26
研討會日期 : 2016-01-26
時間 : 14:30
主講人 : Ms. Tzu-Yin Tseng
主持人 : Professor Yu-Chin Hsu
地點 : Conference Room B110
演講者簡介 : Ms. Tseng will receive her Ph.D. in Economics from University of Houston, Houston, TX in 2016. Her research fields are Health Economics, Labor Economics, Development Economics, and Applied Microeconometrics. She is applying for a position of the Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica now.
演講摘要 : This paper examines the impact of poor intrauterine environment on psychological well-being later in life caused by severe typhoons that took place in Taiwan. By exploiting time and regional variation, I 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. I find that the likelihood of mental disorders in adulthood resulting from fetal exposure to severe typhoon increased by 11%. Exposed individuals are also more likely to use psychiatric drugs and have more psychiatric- related health care utilization. The effects are more prominent for women. My results suggest that natural disasters could have adverse impacts beyond infant health and adult physical health.
