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Beyond Birth Weight: The Origins of Human Capital

Author

Listed:
  • Gabriella Conti

    (University College London)

  • Mark Hanson

    (University of Southampton)

  • Hazel Inskip

    (MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton)

  • Sarah Crozier

    (MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton)

  • Cyrus Cooper

    (MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton)

  • Keith Godfrey

    (University of Southampton)

Abstract
Birth weight is the most widely used indicator of neonatal health. It has been consistently shown to relate to a variety of outcomes throughout the life cycle. Lower birth weight babies have worse health and cognition from childhood, lower educational attainment, wages, and longevity. But what's in birth weight? What are the aspects of the prenatal environment that birth weight actually reflect? In this paper we address this fundamental, yet currently unanswered, question, using unique data with fetal ultrasound measurements from two UK sources. We show that birth weight provides a distinctly limited picture of the uterine environment, capturing both positive and negative aspects of fetal health. Other newborn measures are more informative about different dimensions of the prenatal environment and more predictive of child growth and cognitive development, beyond birth weight. Additionally, patterns of fetal growth are predictive of child physical and mental health conditions, beyond health at birth. Our results are robust to correcting for measurement error, and to accounting for child- and mother-specific unobserved heterogeneity. Our analysis rationalizes a common finding in the early origins literature, that prenatal events can influence postnatal development without affecting birth outcomes. It further clarifies the role of birth weight and height as markers of early health, and suggests caution in adopting birth weight as the main target of prenatal interventions.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriella Conti & Mark Hanson & Hazel Inskip & Sarah Crozier & Cyrus Cooper & Keith Godfrey, 2018. "Beyond Birth Weight: The Origins of Human Capital," Working Papers 2018-089, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:hka:wpaper:2018-089
    Note: HI
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

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    2. Daniel Auer & Johannes S. Kunz, 2021. "Communication Barriers and Infant Health: Intergenerational Effects of Randomly Allocating Refugees Across Language Regions," Papers 2021-05, Centre for Health Economics, Monash University.
    3. Marina Di Giacomo & Massimiliano Piacenza & Luca Salmasi & Gilberto Turati, 2024. "Understanding productivity in maternity wards," DISCE - Working Papers del Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza def134, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    4. Chang, Grace & Favara, Marta & Novella, Rafael, 2022. "The origins of cognitive skills and non-cognitive skills: The long-term effect of in-utero rainfall shocks in India," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    5. Battistin, Erich & Lamarche, Carlos & Rettore, Enrico, 2020. "Quantiles of the Gain Distribution of an Early Child Intervention," CEPR Discussion Papers 14721, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Gabriella Conti, 2013. "The Developmental Origins of Health Inequality," Research on Economic Inequality, in: Health and Inequality, volume 21, pages 285-309, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    7. Trejo, Sam, 2020. "Exploring Genetic Influences on Birth Weight," SocArXiv 7j59q, Center for Open Science.
    8. Francisco J. Cabrera-Hernández & Pedro P. Orraca-Romano, 2023. "Inequality in the Household: How Parental Income Matters for the Long-Term Treatment of Healthy and Unhealthy Siblings," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 674-692, September.
    9. Cabrera-Hernandez, Francisco & Orraca-Romano, Pedro, 2021. "Inequality in the household: neonatal health effects on education outcomes and parents’ compensations among siblings," MPRA Paper 111076, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. De Cao, Elisabetta & McCormick, Barry & Nicodemo, Catia, 2022. "Does unemployment worsen babies’ health? A tale of siblings, maternal behaviour, and selection," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    11. Kim, Jiyoon & Lee, Ajin & Rossin-Slater, Maya, 2019. "What to Expect When It Gets Hotter: The Impacts of Prenatal Exposure to Extreme Heat on Maternal and Infant Health," IZA Discussion Papers 12685, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Kate Kennedy-Moulton & Sarah Miller & Petra Persson & Maya Rossin-Slater & Laura Wherry & Gloria Aldana, 2022. "Maternal and Infant Health Inequality: New Evidence from Linked Administrative Data," NBER Working Papers 30693, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Marion Davin & Emmanuelle Lavaine, 2021. "The role of health at birth and parental investment in early child development: evidence from the French ELFE cohort," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(8), pages 1217-1237, November.
    14. Mary Reader, 2021. "The birthweight effects of universal child benefits in pregnancy: quasi-experimental evidence from England and Wales," CASE Papers /222, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    15. Fichera, Eleonora & Anselmi, Laura & Gwati, Gwati & Brown, Garrett & Kovacs, Roxanne & Borghi, Josephine, 2021. "Can Results-Based Financing improve health outcomes in resource poor settings? Evidence from Zimbabwe," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    16. Emmanuelle Lavaine & Marion Davin, 2021. "The Role of Health at Birth and Parental Investment in Early Child Development. Evidence from the French ELFE Cohort," CEE-M Working Papers hal-03189147, CEE-M, Universtiy of Montpellier, CNRS, INRA, Montpellier SupAgro.
    17. Damian Clarke & Nicolas Lillo Bustos & Kathya Tapia-Schythe, 2022. "Estimating Inter-generational Returns to Medical Care: New Evidence from At-Risk Newborns," Working Papers wp537, University of Chile, Department of Economics.
    18. Doyle, Mary-Alice, 2023. "Seasonal patterns in newborns’ health: Quantifying the roles of climate, communicable disease, economic and social factors," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    19. 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).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    birth weight; fetal development; prenatal investments; developmental origins of health;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • 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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