Genetic Markers as Instrumental Variables:An Application to Child Fat Mass and Academic Achievement

Stephanie von Hinke, George Davey Smith, Debbie A. Lawlor, Carol Propper and Frank Windmeijer

The Centre for Market and Public Organisation from The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK

Abstract: The use of genetic markers as instrumental variables (IV) is receiving increasing attention from economists. This paper examines the conditions that need to be met for genetic variants to be used as instruments. We combine the IV literature with that from genetic epidemiology, with an application to child adiposity (fat mass, determined by a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan) and academic performance. OLS results indicate that leaner children perform slightly better in school tests compared to their more adipose counterparts, but the IV findings show no evidence that fat mass affects academic outcomes.

Keywords: Instrumental variables; Mendelian randomization; Genetic variant; Potential outcomes; Academic performance; Educational attainment; Adiposity; Fat mass; Body Mass Index; ALSPAC (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I1 I2 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2010-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-lab, nep-neu and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Genetic markers as instrumental variables: an application to child fat mass and academic achievement (2010)
Working Paper: Genetic markers as instrumental variables: an application to child fat mass and academic achievement (2010)
Working Paper: Genetic Markers as Instrumental Variables: An Application to Child Fat Mass and Academic Achievement (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bri:cmpowp:10/229

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