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

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 negat

SUBMITTER: Noghanibehambari H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9287432 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature