Communication Barriers and Infant Health: The Intergenerational Effect of Randomly Allocating Refugees across Language Regions
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy · 2025 · [{"name": "Daniel Auer", "affiliation": ["Collegio Carlo Alberto"]}, {"name": "Johannes Kunz", "affiliation": ["Monash University"]}]
中文摘要
本文研究沟通障碍对出生时儿童健康的代际效应。我们考察瑞士境内来自法语或意大利语国家的难民；他们在抵达时被随机分配到不同州，各州的主导语言分别为德语、法语或意大利语。母亲被外生地分配到主导语言与其来源国语言相匹配地区的儿童，出生体重平均高出72克（即2.2%）。进一步分析表明，这一效应很可能由有关健康相关行为与服务的信息所驱动。不过，同族裔网络可以部分弥补沟通障碍的影响。（JEL I12, J13, J15, J16, Z13）
Abstract
This paper investigates the intergenerational effect of communication barriers on child health at birth. We study refugees in Switzerland who come from French- or Italian-speaking countries and who, upon arrival, are randomly allocated to different cantons in which either German, French, or Italian is the dominant language. Children born to mothers who were exogenously allocated to a region whose dominant language matches their origin language are, on average, 72 grams (or 2.2 percent) heavier. Further analyses suggest that this effect is likely driven by information about health-related behavior and services. Coethnic networks, however, can partly compensate for communication barriers. (JEL I12, J13, J15, J16, Z13)