Pandemic influenza and gender imbalance: Mortality selection before births

Kota Ogasawara

Social Science & Medicine, 2022, vol. 311, issue C

Abstract: This study uses data from the 1918–1920 influenza pandemic in Japan along with newly digitized and complete census records on births and infant deaths to analyze mortality selection in utero. I find that fetal exposure to the influenza pandemic during the first trimester of the pregnancy decreases the proportion of males at birth. The results from mechanism analysis suggest that this decline in male births is associated with the deterioration of fetal and infant health. This result supports a wide range of existing literature on the long-run adverse effects of pandemic influenza.

Keywords: Gender imbalance; Pandemic influenza; Prenatal selection; Selection bias; Trivers–Willard hypothesis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 J13 N35 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115299

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