Maternal human capital and infants' health outcomes: Evidence from minimum dropout age policies in the US. (September 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Noghanibehambari, Hamid; Salari, Mahmoud; Tavassoli, Nahid
• Is Part Of: SSM - population health. Volume 19(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-09
• Subjects: Externality -- Education -- Fetal origin hypothesis -- Birth outcomes -- Prenatal care -- Health utilization; I12 -- I18 -- I26 -- D62 -- J13; Social medicine -- Periodicals; Medical anthropology -- Periodicals; Public health -- Periodicals; Psychology -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; 362.105
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101163
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2352-8273

Abstract

Abstract: The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to examine the causal relationship of maternal education and infants' health outcomes. Using birth certificate data over the years 1970–2004 and exploiting the space-time variation in Minimum Dropout Age laws to solve the endogeneity of education, we find a sizeable effect of mothers' education on their birth outcomes. An additional year of maternal education is associated with a reduction in incidences of low birth weight and preterm birth by 15.2 and 12.7 percent, respectively. The estimates are robust across various specifications and even when allowing mothers' cohort-of-birth to vary across regions. The results suggest that the candidate mechanisms of impact include improvements in timing, quantity, and quality of prenatal care, lower negative health behavior during pregnancy such as smoking and drinking, and higher spousal education. Highlights: We provide causal evidence on the effect of mothers' education on birth outcomes. We use Minimum Dropout Age policies as the instrument. Mother education has significant impact on infants' birth outcomes. Candidate mechanisms include improvements in timing, quantity, and quality of prenatal care.