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Children having children: early motherhood and offspring human capital in India

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  • M. Perez-Alvarez

    (University of Groningen, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiteitscomplex)

  • M. Favara

    (Department of International Development)

Abstract

Using panel data from India, this paper investigates the effect of early maternal age on offspring human capital, contributing to the scarce evidence on this phenomenon, especially in the context of a developing country. The analysis relies on mother fixed effects to allow for unobserved differences between mothers and employs a variety of empirical strategies to address remaining sibling-specific concerns. Our results indicate that children born to young mothers are shorter for their age, with stronger effects for girls born to very young mothers. We also find some evidence suggesting that children born to very young mothers perform worse in math. By exploring the evolution of effects over time for the first time in the literature, we find that the height effect weakens as children age. Further analysis suggests both biological and behavioral factors as transmission channels.

Suggested Citation

  • M. Perez-Alvarez & M. Favara, 2023. "Children having children: early motherhood and offspring human capital in India," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1573-1606, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:36:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s00148-023-00946-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-023-00946-0
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Early motherhood; Fertility; Health; Cognition; Human capital; Gender;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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