The returns to early-life interventions for very low birth weight children

Eric Chyn, Samantha Gold and Justine Hastings

Journal of Health Economics, 2021, vol. 75, issue C

Abstract: We use comprehensive administrative data from Rhode Island to measure the impact of early-life interventions for low birth weight newborns. Our analysis relies on a regression discontinuity design based on the 1,500 g threshold for Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) status. We find that threshold crossing causes more intense in-hospital care, in line with prior studies. In terms of later-life outcomes, we show that threshold crossing causes a 0.34 standard deviation increase in test scores in elementary and middle school, a 17.1 percentage point increase in the probability of college enrollment, and a $66,997 decrease in social program expenditures by age 14.

Keywords: Medical care; Early-life interventions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I11 I12 I18 I21 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Working Paper: The Returns to Early-life Interventions for Very Low Birth Weight Children (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:75:y:2021:i:c:s0167629620310468

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2020.102400

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