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Inequality at Birth: Some Causes and Consequences

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  • Janet Currie

Abstract

Recent research shows that health at birth is affected by many factors, including maternal education, behaviors, and participation in social programs. In turn, endowments at birth are predictive of adult outcomes, and of the outcomes of future generations. Exposure to environmental pollution is one potential determinant of health at birth that has received increasing attention. A large literature outside of economics advocates for “Environmental Justice,” and argues that poor and minority families are disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards. I provide new evidence on this question, showing that children born to less educated and minority mothers are more likely to be exposed to pollution in utero and that white, college educated mothers are particularly responsive to changes in environmental amenities. I estimate that differences in exposure to toxic releases may explain 6% of the gap in incidence of low birth weight between infants of white college educated mothers and infants of black high school dropout mothers.

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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by American Economic Association in its journal American Economic Review.

Volume (Year): 101 (2011)
Issue (Month): 3 (May)
Pages: 1-22

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Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:101:y:2011:i:3:p:1-22

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References

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  1. Sandra E Black & Paul J Devereux & Kjell G Salvanes, 2007. "From the Cradle to the Labor Market? The Effect of Birth Weight on Adult Outcomes," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 122(1), pages 409-439, 02.
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Christopher R. Knittel & Douglas L. Miller & Nicholas J. Sanders, 2011. "Caution, Drivers! Children Present: Traffic, Pollution, and Infant Health," Working Papers 1113, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.
  2. Mark E McGovern, 2011. "Still Unequal at Birth - Birth Weight, Socioeconomic Status and Outcomes at Age 9," Working Papers 201125, School Of Economics, University College Dublin.
  3. Mark E McGovern, 2012. "Don't Stress: Early Life Conditions, Hypertension, and Selection into Associated Risk Factors," Working Papers 201227, School Of Economics, University College Dublin.
  4. Nicholas J. Sanders, 2012. "Toxic Assets: How the Housing Market Responds to Environmental Information Shocks," Working Papers 128, Department of Economics, College of William and Mary.
  5. Bacci, Silvia & Bartolucci, Francesco & Pieroni, Luca, 2012. "A causal analysis of mother’s education on birth inequalities," MPRA Paper 38754, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  6. Seonyeong Cho & Choongki Lee & Beomsoo Kim, 2012. "Does Air Pollution Matter for Low Birth Weight?," Discussion Paper Series 1201, Institute of Economic Research, Korea University.
  7. Guven, Cahit & Lee, Wang-Sheng, 2011. "Height and Cognitive Function among Older Europeans: Do People from "Tall" Countries Have Superior Cognitive Abilities?," IZA Discussion Papers 6210, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

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