The unseen pain of the Vietnam War: long-term effects of Agent Orange on labor market outcomes

We examine the long-term labor market consequences of exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, focusing on cohorts whose childhoods overlapped the spraying period. Exploiting district-level variation in herbicide exposure intensity, we find exposed individuals attain lower levels of schooling and reduce their labor supply by 7% relative to the mean. Among individuals who remain in their birth provinces, labor income is reduced by 26.7%. We show that cognitive and physical health impairments do not fully explain the effects. Exposure also reduced household income and pushed individuals toward primary industries, away from wage employment. We further document intergenerational effects, as children of exposed parents exhibit lower educational attainment and reduced labor supply. These findings highlight the lasting and multigenerational economic costs of wartime chemical exposure.