The Impact Of Poor Health On Education: New Evidence Using Genetic Markers

Janet Audrain-McGovern, Steven Lehrer () and J. Niles Rosenquist
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Janet Audrain-McGovern: University of Pennsylvania
J. Niles Rosenquist: University of Pennsylvania
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Weili Ding

No 1045, Working Paper from Economics Department, Queen's University

Abstract: This paper examines the influence of health conditions on academic performance during adolescence. To account for the endogeneity of health outcomes and their interactions with risky behaviors we exploit natural variation within a set of genetic markers across individuals. We present strong evidence that these genetic markers serve as valid instruments with good statistical properties for ADHD, depression and obesity. They help to reveal a new dynamism from poor health to lower academic achievement with substantial heterogeneity in their impacts across genders. Our investigation further exposes the considerable challenges in identifying health impacts due to the prevalence of comorbid health conditions and endogenous health behaviors.

Keywords: health; education; genetic predisposition; obesity; ADHD; depression; instrumental variables; risky health behaviors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 I1 I2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 59 pages
Date: 2006-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-hea, nep-hrm and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (39)

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https://www.econ.queensu.ca/sites/econ.queensu.ca/files/qed_wp_1045.pdf First version 2006 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: The Impact of Poor Health on Education: New Evidence Using Genetic Markers (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:qed:wpaper:1045

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