Impact of Childhood Vaccination on Human Capital Formation in Later Life: Evidence from Indonesia

Riswandi Riswandi and Budy P. Resosudarmo ()
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Riswandi Riswandi: Department of Economics, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia
Budy P. Resosudarmo: Arndt-Corden Department of Economics, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

Asian Development Review (ADR), 2025, vol. 42, issue 03, 279-311

Abstract: This paper examines the long-term effects of childhood vaccination on educational and health outcomes. Using data from the Indonesia Family Life Survey, we leverage the variation in timing and quality of the Village Midwife Program’s implementation in the 1990s as a source of vaccination access differences. We use the interaction between the timing of midwife presence in communities and the squared inverse-distance from the respondent’s district of birth to the national capital as an exogenous factor influencing whether a child received full basic vaccinations. Our findings indicate that children who received complete basic vaccinations tend to attain more years of schooling, achieve higher math scores, are taller, and have a lower risk of being underweight. We also find evidence suggesting that childhood stunting, wasting, and being underweight, as well as absenteeism and lower cognitive abilities in later life, may be key channels through which incomplete childhood vaccination influences human capital formation.

Keywords: childhood vaccination; educational attainment; instrumental variable; nutritional status; Village Midwife Program (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 I18 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:adrxxx:v:42:y:2025:i:03:n:s0116110525400098

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DOI: 10.1142/S0116110525400098

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