How Much Does Birth Weight Matter for Child Health in Developing Countries? Estimates from Siblings and Twins

Mark McGovern

No 18-04, CHaRMS Working Papers from Centre for HeAlth Research at the Management School (CHaRMS)

Abstract: 200 million children globally are not meeting their growth potential, and as a result will suffer the consequences in terms of future outcomes. I examine the effects of birth weight on child health and growth using information from 66 countries. I account for missing data and measurement error using instrumental variables, and adopt an identification strategy based on siblings and twins. I find a consistent effect of birth weight on mortality risk, stunting, wasting, and coughing, with some evidence for fever, diarrhoea and anaemia. Bounds analysis indicates that coefficients may be substantially underestimated due to mortality selection. Improving the pre-natal environment is likely to be important for helping children reach their full potential.

Keywords: Birth Weight; Child Health; Mortality Selection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 J13 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 65 pages
Date: 2018-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-hea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Journal Article: How much does birth weight matter for child health in developing countries? Estimates from siblings and twins (2019)
Working Paper: How Much Does Birth Weight Matter for Child Health in Developing Countries? Estimates from Siblings and Twins (2014)
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