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Long‐term effects of health investments and parental favoritism: the case of breastfeeding

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  • Jason M. Fletcher

Abstract

This paper re‐examines the effects of breastfeeding on long‐term educational outcomes using longitudinal data on siblings. While family‐fixed effects allow controls for all shared family factors, these estimators are sensitive to compensating or reinforcing behaviors by parents. These biases may be particularly important for estimating the effects of parental investment such as breast feeding, where sibling discordance may be difficult to treat as a random outcome and may result in persistence in differential investments between siblings. This paper uses a unique question asked to adolescent siblings about parental favoritism to adjust for potential reinforcing behavior by parents. Standard fixed effects estimates suggest important long‐term educational effects of breastfeeding; however, these effects are uniformly eliminated after focusing on families who treat siblings equally. These findings shed light on the mechanisms linking associations between breastfeeding and longer term outcomes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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  • Jason M. Fletcher, 2011. "Long‐term effects of health investments and parental favoritism: the case of breastfeeding," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(11), pages 1349-1361, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:20:y:2011:i:11:p:1349-1361
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.1675
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    1. Resul Cesur & Joseph J. Sabia & Inas Rashad Kelly & Muzhe Yang, 2017. "The effect of breastfeeding on young adult wages: new evidence from the add health," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 25-51, March.
    2. Cook, C. Justin & Fletcher, Jason M., 2014. "Interactive effects of in utero nutrition and genetic inheritance on cognition: New evidence using sibling comparisons," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 13(C), pages 144-154.
    3. Masayuki Onda, 2016. "Breastfeeding and Early Childhood Outcomes: Is There a Causal Relationship?," Departmental Working Papers 2016-09, Department of Economics, Louisiana State University.
    4. Kronborg, Hanne & Sievertsen, Hans Henrik & Wüst, Miriam, 2016. "Care around birth, infant and mother health and maternal health investments – Evidence from a nurse strike," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 201-211.
    5. Arthi, Vellore & Schneider, Eric B., 2021. "Infant feeding and post-weaning health: Evidence from turn-of-the-century London," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).

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