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Understanding Heterogeneity in the Effects of Birth Weight on Adult Cognition and Wages

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  • C. Justin Cook
  • Jason M. Fletcher

Abstract

A large economics literature has shown long term impacts of birth weight on adult outcomes, including IQ and earnings that are often robust to sibling or twin fixed effects. We examine potential mechanisms underlying these effects by incorporating findings from the genetics and neuroscience literatures. We use a sample of siblings combined with an “orchids and dandelions hypothesis”, where the IQ of genetic dandelions is not affected by in utero nutrition variation but genetic orchids thrive under advantageous conditions and wilt in poor conditions. Indeed, using variation in three candidate genes related to neuroplasticity (APOE, BDNF, and COMT), we find substantial heterogeneity in the associations between birth weight and adult outcomes, where part of the population (i.e., “dandelions”) is not affected by birth weight variation. Our results help uncover why birth weight affects adult outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • C. Justin Cook & Jason M. Fletcher, 2015. "Understanding Heterogeneity in the Effects of Birth Weight on Adult Cognition and Wages," NBER Working Papers 20895, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20895
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    Cited by:

    1. Hübler, Olaf, 2019. "The Role of Body Weight for Health, Earnings and Life Satisfaction," IZA Discussion Papers 12078, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Damian Clarke & Sonia Oreffice & Climent Quintana‐Domeque, 2021. "On the Value of Birth Weight," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 83(5), pages 1130-1159, October.
    3. Clarke, Damian & Cortés, Gustavo & Vergara, Diego, 2017. "Growing Together: Assessing Equity and Effciency in an Early-Life Health Program in Chile," Research Department working papers 1139, CAF Development Bank Of Latinamerica.
    4. Noghanibehambari, Hamid & Fletcher, Jason, 2023. "Long-Term Health Benefits of Occupational Licensing: Evidence from Midwifery Laws," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    5. Pehkonen, Jaakko & Viinikainen, Jutta & Böckerman, Petri & Lehtimäki, Terho & Pitkänen, Niina & Raitakari, Olli, 2017. "Genetic endowments, parental resources and adult health: Evidence from the Young Finns Study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 191-200.
    6. Hübler Olaf, 2020. "The Gender-specific Role of Body Weight for Health, Earnings and Life Satisfaction in Piecewise and Simultaneous Equations Models," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 240(5), pages 653-676, October.
    7. Dalton Conley & Ramina Sotoudeh & Thomas Laidley, 2019. "Birth Weight and Development: Bias or Heterogeneity by Polygenic Risk Factors?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 38(6), pages 811-839, December.
    8. Cristina Bellés-Obrero & Antonio Cabrales & Sergi Jiménez-Martín & Judit Vall Castello, 2019. "Mothers’ care: reversing early childhood health shocks through parental investments," Economics Working Papers 1629, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    9. Jason M. Fletcher, 2019. "Environmental bottlenecks in children’s genetic potential for adult socio-economic attainments: Evidence from a health shock," Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 73(1), pages 139-148, January.
    10. Cristina Bellés-Obrero & Sergi Jiménez-Martín & Judit Vall-Castello, 2015. "The unintended effects of increasing the legal working age on family behaviour," Economics Working Papers 1484, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    11. Anne Ardila Brenøe & Ramona Molitor, 2015. "Birth Order and Health of Newborns: What Can We Learn from Danish Registry Data?," Working Papers 161, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    12. Brandon J. Restrepo, 2016. "Parental investment responses to a low birth weight outcome: who compensates and who reinforces?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(4), pages 969-989, October.
    13. Mocan, Naci & Yu, Han, 2020. "Can Superstition Create a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy? School Outcomes of Dragon Children of China," IZA Discussion Papers 13769, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Maruyama, Shiko & Heinesen, Eskil, 2020. "Another look at returns to birthweight," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    15. Kreiner, Claus Thustrup & Sievertsen, Hans Henrik, 2020. "Neonatal health of parents and cognitive development of children," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    16. Damian Clarke & Gustavo Cortés Méndez & Diego Vergara Sepúlveda, 2020. "Growing together: assessing equity and efficiency in a prenatal health program," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 883-956, July.
    17. Rauscher, Emily, 2017. "Plastic and Immobile," OSF Preprints cjweu, Center for Open Science.
    18. Anna Baranowska-Rataj & Kieron J. Barclay & Joan Costa-i-Font & Mikko Myrskylä & Berkay Özcan, 2019. "Preterm births and educational disadvantage: heterogeneous effects across families and schools," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2019-016, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    19. Stearns, Jenna, 2015. "The effects of paid maternity leave: Evidence from Temporary Disability Insurance," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 85-102.
    20. 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).
    21. Noghanibehambari, Hamid & Engelman, Michal, 2022. "Social insurance programs and later-life mortality: Evidence from new deal relief spending," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    22. Jaakko Pehkonen & Jutta Viinikainen & Jaana T. Kari & Petri Böckerman & Terho Lehtimäki & Olli Raitakari, 2021. "Birth weight and adult income: An examination of mediation through adult height and body mass," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(10), pages 2383-2398, September.
    23. Anne Ardila Brenoee & Ramona Molitor, 2015. "Birth Order and Health of Newborns: What Can We Learn from Danish Registry Data?," CINCH Working Paper Series 1513, Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Competent in Competition and Health, revised Oct 2015.
    24. Cabrales, Antonio & Bellés-Obrero, Cristina & Jiménez-Martín, Sergi & Vall-Castello, Judit, 2019. "Mothers’ care: reversing early childhood health shocks through parental investments," CEPR Discussion Papers 13451, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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