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Low birth weight and health expenditures from birth to late adolescence

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Hummer
  • Thomas Lehner

    (Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria)

  • Gerald J. Pruckner

Abstract

Using administrative panel data of health insurants, we estimate the effects of low birth weight on health service utilization among children and young adults between birth and 21 years old. To account for time-invariant heterogeneity of mothers, we use sibling fixed- effects estimation. We find that low birth weight strongly increases subsequent health expenditures and that the effect is particularly pronounced in the first year of life. Starting in compulsory schooling, we observe a shift in expenditures to mental-health problems. Whereas the effects on physical health disappear over time, we provide evidence that mental-health problems prevail until early adulthood. We therefore suggest a screening program tailored to the conditions more likely to be contracted by low-birth-weight children in order to mitigate the negative health consequences.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Hummer & Thomas Lehner & Gerald J. Pruckner, 2012. "Low birth weight and health expenditures from birth to late adolescence," Economics working papers 2012-06, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    • Handle: RePEc:jku:econwp:2012_06
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jostein Grytten & Lars Monkerud & Irene Skau & Anne Eskild & Rune J. Sørensen & Ola Didrik Saugstad, 2017. "Saving Newborn Babies – The Benefits of Interventions in Neonatal Care in Norway over More Than 40 Years," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 352-370, March.
    2. Reif, Simon & Wichert, Sebastian & Wuppermann, Amelie, 2018. "Is it good to be too light? Birth weight thresholds in hospital reimbursement systems," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1-25.
    3. Maruyama, Shiko & Heinesen, Eskil, 2020. "Another look at returns to birthweight," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    4. Fletcher, Jason & Noghanibehambari, Hamid, 2024. "The siren song of cicadas: Early-life pesticide exposure and later-life male mortality," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Low birth weight; health expenditures; sibling fixed-effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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