This paper examines the impact of exposure to public health insurance in early life on outcomes in adolescence in rural China. Exploiting the variation in the county-by-county rollout of the New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) between 2003 and 2008, we find that exposure to the NCMS during ages 0-5 significantly improves health, cognitive, and educational outcomes during adolescence. In contrast, exposure after age five has no significant effects. Our further investigation provides evidence for several underlying mechanisms, such as improved prenatal care and birth outcomes, better preventive medical protection against childhood diseases, and lower risk in medical expenditure.
邓佩云
金融学博士,上海外国语大学国际金融贸易学院精算学系讲师。论文发表于Scandinavian Journal of Economics,《社会保障研究》等期刊,主要研究方向为社会保障、养老金经济学、行为保险、发展经济学等。
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