From the Cradle to the Labor Market? The Effect of Birth Weight on Adult Outcomes

57 Pages Posted: 5 Dec 2005

See all articles by Sandra E. Black

Sandra E. Black

Columbia University; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); IZA Institute of Labor Economics; Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - Department of Economics

Paul J. Devereux

University College Dublin - Department of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Kjell G. Salvanes

Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - Department of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 2005

Abstract

Lower birth weight babies have worse outcomes, both short-run in terms of one-year mortality rates and longer run in terms of educational attainment and earnings. However, recent research has called into question whether birth weight itself is important or whether it simply reflects other hard-to-measure characteristics. By applying within twin techniques using a unique dataset from Norway, we examine both short-run and long-run outcomes for the same cohorts. We find that birth weight does matter; very small short-run fixed effect estimates can be misleading because longer-run effects on outcomes such as height, IQ, earnings, and education are significant and similar in magnitude to OLS estimates. Our estimates suggest that eliminating birth weight differences between socio-economic groups would have sizeable effects on the later outcomes of children from poorer families.

Keywords: birth weight, twins, education, IQ, earnings

JEL Classification: J1, I1

Suggested Citation

Black, Sandra E. and Devereux, Paul J. and Salvanes, Kjell G., From the Cradle to the Labor Market? The Effect of Birth Weight on Adult Outcomes (November 2005). IZA Discussion Paper No. 1864, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=866926 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.866926

Sandra E. Black

Columbia University ( email )

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - Department of Economics

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Norway

Paul J. Devereux

University College Dublin - Department of Economics ( email )

Belfield
Dublin 4, 4
Ireland

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Kjell G. Salvanes (Contact Author)

Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - Department of Economics ( email )

Helleveien 30
N-5035 Bergen
Norway
+47 5 595 9315 (Phone)
+47 5 595 9543 (Fax)

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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