Announcement effects of health policy reforms: evidence from the abolition of Austria’s baby bonus

Beatrice Brunner () and Andreas Kuhn ()

The European Journal of Health Economics, 2014, vol. 15, issue 4, 373-388

Abstract: We analyze the short-run fertility and health effects resulting from the early announcement of the abolition of the Austrian baby bonus in January 1997. The abolition of the benefit was publicly announced about 10 months in advance, creating the opportunity for prospective parents to (re-)schedule conceptions accordingly. We find robust evidence that, within the month before the abolition, about 8 % more children were born as a result of (re-)scheduling conceptions. At the same time, there is no evidence that mothers deliberately manipulated the date of birth through medical intervention. We also find a substantial and significant increase in the fraction of birth complications, but no evidence for any resulting adverse effects on newborns’ health. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Keywords: Baby bonus; Scheduling of conceptions; Timing of births; Policy announcement; Announcement effect; Birth complications; Medical intervention; H31; J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:15:y:2014:i:4:p:373-388

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DOI: 10.1007/s10198-013-0481-4

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