IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ten/wpaper/2016-01.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Maternal Stress and Birth Outcomes: Evidence from the 1994 Northridge Earthquake

Author

Listed:
  • Bongkyun Kim

    (Department of Economics, University of Tennessee)

  • Celeste K. Carruthers

    (Department of Economics, University of Tennessee)

  • Matthew C. Harris

    (Department of Economics, University of Tennessee)

Abstract

Psychological maternal stress is difficult to identify as a causal factor in poor infant health. We posit that the 1994 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles, California provides a natural test of the effect of mothers' stress on infants' birth weight and gestation. Difference-in-difference results show that infants born closest to the epicenter were 0.24 percentage points more likely to be born with low birth weight. Among the subsample of mothers most susceptible to stress -- first-time, single mothers -- low birth weight was 0.65 percentage points more likely to occur. Impacts were larger and more precisely identified for women who experienced the earthquake in their first or third trimester. We find little evidence that earthquake-induced stress affected preterm delivery.

Suggested Citation

  • Bongkyun Kim & Celeste K. Carruthers & Matthew C. Harris, 2016. "Maternal Stress and Birth Outcomes: Evidence from the 1994 Northridge Earthquake," Working Papers 2016-01, University of Tennessee, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ten:wpaper:2016-01
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://web.utk.edu/~ccarrut1/Kim_Carruthers_Harris_2017-05-25.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2016
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Douglas Almond & Lena Edlund & Mårten Palme, 2009. "Chernobyl's Subclinical Legacy: Prenatal Exposure to Radioactive Fallout and School Outcomes in Sweden," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1729-1772.
    2. Sandra E. Black & Paul J. Devereux & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2007. "From the Cradle to the Labor Market? The Effect of Birth Weight on Adult Outcomes," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(1), pages 409-439.
    3. Erica Field & Omar Robles & Maximo Torero, 2009. "Iodine Deficiency and Schooling Attainment in Tanzania," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(4), pages 140-169, October.
    4. Nicholas J. Sanders, 2012. "What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Weaker: Prenatal Pollution Exposure and Educational Outcomes," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 47(3), pages 826-850.
    5. Burlando, Alfredo, 2014. "Transitory shocks and birth weights: Evidence from a blackout in Zanzibar," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 154-168.
    6. Jason Abrevaya, 2006. "Estimating the effect of smoking on birth outcomes using a matched panel data approach," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(4), pages 489-519, May.
    7. Carlos Bozzoli & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2014. "The Weight of the Crisis: Evidence From Newborns in Argentina," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(3), pages 550-562, July.
    8. Barreca, Alan I. & Guldi, Melanie & Lindo, Jason M. & Waddell, Glen R., 2010. "Running and Jumping Variables in RD Designs: Evidence Based on Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Birth Weights," IZA Discussion Papers 5106, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Rosemary Hyson & Janet Currie, 1999. "Is the Impact of Health Shocks Cushioned by Socioeconomic Status? The Case of Low Birthweight," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 245-250, May.
    10. Florencia Torche, 2011. "The Effect of Maternal Stress on Birth Outcomes: Exploiting a Natural Experiment," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(4), pages 1473-1491, November.
    11. David Figlio & Jonathan Guryan & Krzysztof Karbownik & Jeffrey Roth, 2014. "The Effects of Poor Neonatal Health on Children's Cognitive Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(12), pages 3921-3955, December.
    12. Carlson, Kyle, 2015. "Fear itself: The effects of distressing economic news on birth outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 117-132.
    13. Lee, Chulhee, 2014. "In utero exposure to the Korean War and its long-term effects on socioeconomic and health outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 76-93.
    14. Adriana Camacho, 2008. "Stress and Birth Weight: Evidence from Terrorist Attacks," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 511-515, May.
    15. Lindo, Jason M., 2011. "Parental job loss and infant health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 869-879.
    16. Currie, Janet & Rossin-Slater, Maya, 2013. "Weathering the storm: Hurricanes and birth outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 487-503.
    17. Mansour, Hani & Rees, Daniel I., 2012. "Armed conflict and birth weight: Evidence from the al-Aqsa Intifada," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 190-199.
    18. Emilia Simeonova, 2011. "Out of Sight, Out of Mind? Natural Disasters and Pregnancy Outcomes in the USA," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 57(3), pages 403-431, September.
    19. ., 2014. "An overview of the world aerospace industry," Chapters, in: The Political Economy of Aerospace Industries, chapter 2, pages 10-26, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Prashant Bharadwaj & Katrine Vellesen L?ken & Christopher Neilson, 2013. "Early Life Health Interventions and Academic Achievement," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(5), pages 1862-1891, August.
    21. Sandra E. Black & Paul J. Devereux & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2016. "Does Grief Transfer across Generations? Bereavements during Pregnancy and Child Outcomes," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 193-223, January.
    22. repec:ucn:wpaper:10197/317 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Chen, Yuyu & Zhou, Li-An, 2007. "The long-term health and economic consequences of the 1959-1961 famine in China," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 659-681, July.
    24. Alan Barreca & Melanie Guldi & Jason M. Lindo & Glen R. Waddell, 2010. "Running and Jumping Variables in RD Designs," Working Papers 1001, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Victor Hugo de Oliveira & Ines Lee & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2023. "Natural Disasters and Early Human Development: Hurricane Catarina and Infant Health in Brazil," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 58(3), pages 819-851.
    2. Kota Ogasawara, 2022. "Persistence of natural disasters on children's health: Evidence from the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(4), pages 1054-1082, November.
    3. Álvarez-Aranda, Rocío & Chirkova, Serafima & Romero, José Gabriel, 2020. "Growing in the womb: The effect of seismic activity on fetal growth," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 36(C).
    4. Mrejen, Matias & Perelman, Julian & Machado, Danielle Carusi, 2020. "Environmental disasters and birth outcomes: Impact of a tailings dam breakage in Brazil," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    5. Gualtieri, Giovanni & Nicolini, Marcella & Sabatini, Fabio, 2019. "Repeated shocks and preferences for redistribution," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 53-71.
    6. Markus Brueckner & Sudyumna Dahal & Haiyan Lin, 2024. "Natural Disasters and Human Development in Asia–Pacific: The Role of External Debt," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-27, June.
    7. Hoyong Jung, 2023. "Can Universal Cash Transfer Save Newborns’ Birth Weight During the Pandemic?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-22, February.
    8. Jonatan A. Mendoza-Ortega & Enrique Reyes-Muñoz & Sonia Nava-Salazar & Sandra Rodríguez-Martínez & Sandra B. Parra-Hernández & Lourdes Schnaas & Blanca Vianey Suárez-Rico & Libni A. Torres-Olascoaga &, 2021. "Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number Adaptation as a Biological Response Derived from an Earthquake at Intrauterine Stage," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-10, November.
    9. Hamid Noghanibehambari & Jason Fletcher, 2022. "Dust to Feed, Dust to Grey: The Effect of In-Utero Exposure to the Dust Bowl on Old-Age Longevity," NBER Working Papers 30531, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Tian, Xinping & Gong, Jinquan & Zhai, Zhe, 2022. "Natural disasters and human capital accumulation: Evidence from the 1976 Tangshan earthquake," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    11. Sundar Ponnusamy, 2022. "Natural disasters and missing children," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 399-416, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hoyong Jung, 2023. "Can Universal Cash Transfer Save Newborns’ Birth Weight During the Pandemic?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-22, February.
    2. Carlson, Kyle, 2015. "Fear itself: The effects of distressing economic news on birth outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 117-132.
    3. Douglas Almond & Janet Currie & Valentina Duque, 2018. "Childhood Circumstances and Adult Outcomes: Act II," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(4), pages 1360-1446, December.
    4. Kyle Carlson, 2018. "Red Alert: Prenatal Stress and Plans to Close Military Bases," American Journal of Health Economics, MIT Press, vol. 4(3), pages 287-320, Summer.
    5. Dagnelie, Olivier & Luca, Giacomo Davide De & Maystadt, Jean-François, 2018. "Violence, selection and infant mortality in Congo," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 153-177.
    6. Brad R. Humphreys & Jane E. Ruseski, 2019. "Geographic Determinants of Infant Health: The Impact of Sports Facility Construction Projects," Working Papers 19-06, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    7. Victor Hugo de Oliveira & Ines Lee & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2023. "Natural Disasters and Early Human Development: Hurricane Catarina and Infant Health in Brazil," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 58(3), pages 819-851.
    8. Lee, Chulhee, 2014. "Intergenerational health consequences of in utero exposure to maternal stress: Evidence from the 1980 Kwangju uprising," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 284-291.
    9. Clark, Andrew E. & D’Ambrosio, Conchita & Rohde, Nicholas, 2021. "Prenatal economic shocks and birth outcomes in UK cohort data," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    10. Petra Persson & Maya Rossin-Slater, 2018. "Family Ruptures, Stress, and the Mental Health of the Next Generation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(4-5), pages 1214-1252, April.
    11. Joan Calzada & Meritxell Gisbert & Bernard Moscoso, 2021. "The hidden cost of bananas: pesticide effects on newborns’ health," UB School of Economics Working Papers 2021/405, University of Barcelona School of Economics.
    12. Andrea Kutinova Menclova & Steven Stillman, 2020. "Maternal stress and birth outcomes: Evidence from an unexpected earthquake swarm," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(12), pages 1705-1720, December.
    13. Arna Olafsson, 2016. "Household Financial Distress and Initial Endowments: Evidence from the 2008 Financial Crisis," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(S2), pages 43-56, November.
    14. Kyriopoulos, Ilias & Nikoloski, Zlatko & Mossialos, Elias, 2019. "Does economic recession impact newborn health? Evidence from Greece," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 1-1.
    15. Molina, Oswaldo & Saldarriaga, Victor, 2017. "The perils of climate change: In utero exposure to temperature variability and birth outcomes in the Andean region," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 111-124.
    16. Berthelon, Matias & Kruger, Diana & Sanchez, Rafael, 2021. "Maternal stress during pregnancy and early childhood development," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    17. Viviane Sanfelice, 2022. "Mosquito‐borne disease and newborn health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 73-93, January.
    18. Alastair Ball, 2018. "The Long-Term Economic Costs of the Great London Smog," Birkbeck Working Papers in Economics and Finance 1814, Birkbeck, Department of Economics, Mathematics & Statistics.
    19. Ball, Alastair, 2014. "Air pollution, foetal mortality, and long-term health: Evidence from the Great London Smog," MPRA Paper 63229, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 25 Mar 2015.
    20. Tian, Xinping & Gong, Jinquan & Zhai, Zhe, 2022. "Natural disasters and human capital accumulation: Evidence from the 1976 Tangshan earthquake," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Maternal stress; birth outcomes; natural disasters;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ten:wpaper:2016-01. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Scott Holladay (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ecutkus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.