The Long-Run Effects of Cesarean Sections

Ana Costa-Ramón, Mika Kortelainen, Ana Rodríguez-González and Lauri Sääksvuori

No 125, Working Papers from VATT Institute for Economic Research

Abstract: This paper analyzes the long-term effects of potentially avoidable C-sections on children's health. Using Finnish administrative data, we document that physicians perform more unplanned C-sections during their regular working hours on days that precede a weekend or public holiday and use this exogenous variation as an instrument for C-sections. We supplement our instrumental variables results with a differences-in-differences estimation that exploits variation in birth mode within sibling pairs and across families. Our results suggest that avoidable unplanned C-sections increase the risk of asthma, but do not affect other immune-mediated disorders previously associated with C-sections.

Keywords: c-section; child health; natural experiment; instrumental variables; family fixed effects; Local public finance and provision of public services; I10; I12; I18; J13; Terveyspalvelut (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur and nep-hea
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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https://www.doria.fi/handle/10024/172439

Related works:
Journal Article: The Long-Run Effects of Cesarean Sections (2022)
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