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Early Life Health Interventions and Academic Achievement

Author

Listed:
  • Bharadwaj, Prashant

    (University of California, San Diego)

  • Loken, Katrine Vellesen

    (Norwegian School of Economics)

  • Neilson, Christopher A.

    (Princeton University)

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of improved neonatal health care on mortality and long run academic achievement in school. We use the idea that medical treatments often follow rules of thumb for assigning care to patients, such as the classification of Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW), which assigns infants special care at a specific birth weight cutoff. Using detailed administrative data on schooling and birth records from Chile and Norway, we establish that children who receive extra medical care at birth have lower mortality rates and higher test scores and grades in school. These gains are in the order of 0.15-0.22 standard deviations.

Suggested Citation

  • Bharadwaj, Prashant & Loken, Katrine Vellesen & Neilson, Christopher A., 2012. "Early Life Health Interventions and Academic Achievement," IZA Discussion Papers 6864, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6864
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    neonatal care; regression discontinuity; child development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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