What are the consequences of a severe health shock like an influenza pandemic on fertility?
Using rich administrative data and a difference-in-differences approach, we evaluate fertility
responses to the 1918–19 influenza pandemic in Sweden. We find evidence of a small baby
boom following the end of the pandemic, but we show that this effect is second-order
compared to a strong long-term negative fertility effect. Within this net fertility decline there
are compositional effects: we observe a relative increase in births to married women and to …