The Effect of Superstition on Health: Evidence from the Taiwanese Ghost Month

Martin Halla, Chia-Lun Liu and Jin-Tan Liu
Additional contact information
Chia-Lun Liu: Lehigh University

No 12066, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Superstition is a widespread phenomenon. We empirically examine its impact on health-related behavior and health outcomes. We study the case of the Taiwanese Ghost month. During this period, which is believed to increase the likelihood of bad outcomes, we observe substantial adaptions in health-related behavior. Our identification exploits idiosyncratic variation in the timing of the Ghost Month across Gregorian calendar years. Using high-quality administrative data, we document for the period of the Ghost Months reductions in mortality, hospital admissions, and births. While the effect on mortality is a quantum effect, the latter two effects reflect changes in the timing of events. Efficient public health policy should account for emotional and cultural factors.

Keywords: superstition; false beliefs; health; risky activities; health-care utilization; mortality; fertility; birth outcomes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D83 D91 I12 Z12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2019-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp12066.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: The Effect of Superstition on Health: Evidence from the Taiwanese Ghost Month (2019)
Working Paper: The Effect of Superstition on Health: Evidence from the Taiwanese Ghost Month (2019)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12066

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Holger Hinte ().