arXiv subjects

Volha Lazuka

Publications and source records attributed to Volha Lazuka.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Multigenerational Effects of Smallpox Vaccination

Using Swedish register data spanning 250 years, we estimate multigenerational effects of smallpox vaccination on longevity and occupational achievements. Employing mother fixed-effects, difference-in-differences, and shift-share instrumental-variables designs, we find vaccination improves outcomes for three generations. We explore mechanisms through which benefits transmit across generations, finding evidence consistent with both improved health behaviors and epigenetic inheritance. Effects persist even in milder disease environments, demonstrating vaccination lasting benefits beyond epidemic contexts. These findings underscore the importance of accounting for multigenerational returns when evaluating early-life health interventions.

econ.GN↗

arXiv2025

Skills Beget Skills: Evidence from Historical School Reforms Targeting Health and Further Education

This paper investigates the dynamic complementarity between school health and education reforms implemented in Denmark between 1940 and 1965: the introduction of school doctors and the expansion of secondary education. Using a staggered difference-in-differences approach for multiple treatments, we study the reform effects on individuals' outcomes in the ages 55-64. We find that each reform leads to significant improvements in health and education outcomes, including reduced mortality, fewer hospitalizations, and higher educational attainment. The singular impact of each reform is doubled when both reforms are implemented together, resulting in a 9 percent increase in earnings. These findings underscore high societal returns to complementary school investments in the long term.

econ.GN↗

arXiv2023

Life-Cycle Effects of Comprehensive Sex Education

Using the introduction of comprehensive sex education in Sweden as a natural experiment, we explore how educational curricula can shape social norms and impact personal well-being. Inspired by liberal values, the curriculum taught more than just biology. It instilled lessons on abstinence, rational family planning, and the importance of taking social responsibility for personal decisions. We find that the reform successfully addressed its intended outcomes, reducing unwanted pregnancies, leading to fertility postponements and increasing female labor force participation. The findings suggest that social norms, internalized through school-based sex education, persistently affect peoples outcomes in significant ways.

econ.GN↗

arXiv2022

Household and individual economic outcomes of different health shocks: The role of medical innovations

This study provides new evidence on how medical care mitigates the economic consequences of health shocks for individuals and their partners. To identify causal effects, I focus on medical scientific discoveries and exploit longitudinal administrative data for Sweden, using a triple differences design. The results indicate that medical innovation strongly mitigates the negative economic consequences of health shocks for individuals and have spillover effects on their partners. These spillovers are relatively large because medical innovation compensates for partners wage losses in conditions when welfare support for caregiving is insufficient. Overall, the findings indicate that medical innovation not only produces substantial economic gains but also reduces disease-related economic inequalities.

econ.GN↗