The effects of gender-specific local labor demand on birth and later outcomes

Mika Akesaka and Nobuyoshi Kikuchi

Labour Economics, 2024, vol. 90, issue C

Abstract: We study the effects of local labor market conditions during early pregnancy on birth and later outcomes. Using a longitudinal survey of newborns in Japan, we find that improvements in employment opportunities increase the probability of low birth weight and premature birth. We also examine the effects of gender-specific labor market conditions. An increase in labor demand for women has a large negative effect on gestational age, especially for mothers who gave birth at relatively young ages. However, we find little evidence of a lasting negative effect of an increase in labor demand during early pregnancy on serious health conditions or developmental delays in early childhood. Using prefecture-level panel data, we confirm that the negative effect on infant birth weight is not driven by selective fertility and mortality.

Keywords: Labor market conditions; Newborn health; Low birth weight; Recession (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 J13 J16 J23 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927537124000411
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
Working Paper: The Effects of Gender-Specific Local Labor Demand on Birth and Later Outcomes (2024)
Working Paper: The Effects of Gender-Specific Local Labor Demand on Birth and Later Outcomes (2022)
Working Paper: The Effects of Gender-Specific Local Labor Demand on Birth and Later Outcomes (2022)
Working Paper: The Effects of Gender-Specific Local Labor Demand on Birth and Later Outcomes (2022)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:90:y:2024:i:c:s0927537124000411

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102546

Access Statistics for this article

Labour Economics is currently edited by A. Ichino

More articles in Labour Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().