Publications [#365834] of Duncan Thomas

Journal Articles

1. Beach, B; Brown, R; Ferrie, J; Saavedra, M; Thomas, D, Reevaluating the Long-Term Impact of In Utero Exposure to the 1918 Influenza Pandemic., The journal of political economy, vol. 130 no. 7 (July, 2022), pp. 1963-1990 [doi]
   (last updated on 2025/05/12)

   Abstract:
   Almond (2006) argues that in utero exposure to the 1918 influenza pandemic reduced the 1919 birth cohort's adult socioeconomic status (SES). We show that this cohort came from lower-SES families, which is incompatible with Almond's cohort-comparison identification strategy. The adult SES deficit is reduced after background characteristics are controlled for; it is small and statistically insignificant in models that include household fixed effects. Replicating Almond's state-level dose-response analysis, we find no evidence in census data that influenza exposure reduced adult SES. Evidence from a city-level dose-response analysis on educational attainment using WWII enlistees from 287 cities is mixed.