The Long-Term Effects of Hospital Deliveries

Martin Fischer (), Martin Karlsson and Nikolaos Prodromidis
Additional contact information
Martin Fischer: IFN - Research Institute of Industrial Economics
Nikolaos Prodromidis: University of Duisburg-Essen

No 14562, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper analyzes the long-term effects on mortality and socio-economic outcomes from institutional delivery. We exploit two Swedish interventions that affected the costs of hospital deliveries and the supply of maternity wards during the 1926–46 period. Using exogenous variation in the supply of maternity wards to instrument the likelihood of institutional delivery, we find that delivery in hospital has substantial effects on later-life outcomes such as education and mortality. We argue that a decrease in child morbidity due to better treatment of complications is a likely mechanism. This interpretation is corroborated by evidence from primary school performance, showing a large reduction in the probability of low performance. In contrast to an immediate and large take-up in hospital deliveries as response to an increase in the supply, we find no increase in hospital births from the abolishment of fees – but some degree of displacement of high-SES parents.

Keywords: institutional delivery; diffusion of innovations; difference-in-discontinuities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I13 I18 N34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 82 pages
Date: 2021-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-hea, nep-his and nep-isf
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Working Paper: Long‐term Effects of Hospital Deliveries (2021)
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