IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/hlthec/v30y2021i10p2383-2398.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Birth weight and adult income: An examination of mediation through adult height and body mass

Author

Listed:
  • Jaakko Pehkonen
  • Jutta Viinikainen
  • Jaana T. Kari
  • Petri Böckerman
  • Terho Lehtimäki
  • Olli Raitakari

Abstract

This paper examines the causal links between early human endowments and socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood. We use a genotyped longitudinal survey (Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study) that is linked to the administrative registers of Statistics Finland. We focus on the effect of birth weight on income via two anthropometric mediators: body mass index (BMI) and height in adulthood. We find that (i) the genetic instruments for birth weight, adult height, and adult BMI are statistically powerful; (ii) there is a robust total effect of birth weight on income for men but not for women; (iii) the total effect of birth weight on income for men is partly mediated via height but not via BMI; and (iv) the share of the total effect mediated via height is substantial, of approximately 56%.

Suggested Citation

  • Jaakko Pehkonen & Jutta Viinikainen & Jaana T. Kari & Petri Böckerman & Terho Lehtimäki & Olli Raitakari, 2021. "Birth weight and adult income: An examination of mediation through adult height and body mass," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(10), pages 2383-2398, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:30:y:2021:i:10:p:2383-2398
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.4387
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.4387
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/hec.4387?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Heather Royer, 2009. "Separated at Girth: US Twin Estimates of the Effects of Birth Weight," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 49-85, January.
    2. Justin Cook, C. & Fletcher, Jason M., 2015. "Understanding heterogeneity in the effects of birth weight on adult cognition and wages," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 107-116.
    3. Han, Euna & Norton, Edward C. & Powell, Lisa M., 2011. "Direct and indirect effects of body weight on adult wages," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 381-392.
    4. John Cawley & Euna Han & Jiyoon Kim & Edward C. Norton, 2019. "Testing for family influences on obesity: The role of genetic nurture," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(7), pages 937-952, July.
    5. Caliendo, Marco & Gehrsitz, Markus, 2016. "Obesity and the labor market: A fresh look at the weight penalty," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 209-225.
    6. 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, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(1), pages 409-439.
    7. Douglas Almond & Janet Currie & Valentina Duque, 2018. "Childhood Circumstances and Adult Outcomes: Act II," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(4), pages 1360-1446, December.
    8. Jason M. Fletcher, 2011. "The promise and pitfalls of combining genetic and economic research," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(8), pages 889-892, August.
    9. Ben Brumpton & Eleanor Sanderson & Karl Heilbron & Fernando Pires Hartwig & Sean Harrison & Gunnhild Åberge Vie & Yoonsu Cho & Laura D. Howe & Amanda Hughes & Dorret I. Boomsma & Alexandra Havdahl & J, 2020. "Avoiding dynastic, assortative mating, and population stratification biases in Mendelian randomization through within-family analyses," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    10. Darius Lakdawalla & Tomas Philipson, 2007. "Labor Supply and Weight," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(1).
    11. Cawley, John (ed.), 2011. "The Oxford Handbook of the Social Science of Obesity," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199736362, Decembrie.
    12. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    13. Cawley, John, 2015. "An economy of scales: A selective review of obesity's economic causes, consequences, and solutions," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 244-268.
    14. Aysu Okbay & Jonathan P. Beauchamp & Mark Alan Fontana & James J. Lee & Tune H. Pers & Cornelius A. Rietveld & Patrick Turley & Guo-Bo Chen & Valur Emilsson & S. Fleur W. Meddens & Sven Oskarsson & Jo, 2016. "Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment," Nature, Nature, vol. 533(7604), pages 539-542, May.
    15. Edward C. Norton & Euna Han, 2008. "Genetic information, obesity, and labor market outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(9), pages 1089-1104, September.
    16. David Figlio & Jonathan Guryan & Krzysztof Karbownik & Jeffrey Roth, 2014. "The Effects of Poor Neonatal Health on Children's Cognitive Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(12), pages 3921-3955, December.
    17. Adam E. Locke & Bratati Kahali & Sonja I. Berndt & Anne E. Justice & Tune H. Pers & Felix R. Day & Corey Powell & Sailaja Vedantam & Martin L. Buchkovich & Jian Yang & Damien C. Croteau-Chonka & Tonu , 2015. "Genetic studies of body mass index yield new insights for obesity biology," Nature, Nature, vol. 518(7538), pages 197-206, February.
    18. John Cawley, 2004. "The Impact of Obesity on Wages," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 39(2).
    19. Momoko Horikoshi & Robin N. Beaumont & Felix R. Day & Nicole M. Warrington & Marjolein N. Kooijman & Juan Fernandez-Tajes & Bjarke Feenstra & Natalie R. van Zuydam & Kyle J. Gaulton & Niels Grarup & J, 2016. "Genome-wide associations for birth weight and correlations with adult disease," Nature, Nature, vol. 538(7624), pages 248-252, October.
    20. Daniel W. Belsky & Avshalom Caspi & Louise Arseneault & David L. Corcoran & Benjamin W. Domingue & Kathleen Mullan Harris & Renate M. Houts & Jonathan S. Mill & Terrie E. Moffitt & Joseph Prinz & Kare, 2019. "Genetics and the geography of health, behaviour and attainment," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 3(6), pages 576-586, June.
    21. Dmitry Shungin & Thomas W. Winkler & Damien C. Croteau-Chonka & Teresa Ferreira & Adam E. Locke & Reedik Mägi & Rona J. Strawbridge & Tune H. Pers & Krista Fischer & Anne E. Justice & Tsegaselassie Wo, 2015. "New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution," Nature, Nature, vol. 518(7538), pages 187-196, February.
    22. von Hinke, Stephanie & Davey Smith, George & Lawlor, Debbie A. & Propper, Carol & Windmeijer, Frank, 2016. "Genetic markers as instrumental variables," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 131-148.
    23. Anne Case & Christina Paxson, 2008. "Stature and Status: Height, Ability, and Labor Market Outcomes," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(3), pages 499-532, June.
    24. Nakamuro, Makiko & Uzuki, Yuka & Inui, Tomohiko, 2013. "The effects of birth weight: Does fetal origin really matter for long-run outcomes?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 121(1), pages 53-58.
    25. Lindeboom, Maarten & Lundborg, Petter & van der Klaauw, Bas, 2010. "Assessing the impact of obesity on labor market outcomes," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 309-319, December.
    26. Hope Corman & Dhaval Dave & Nancy E. Reichman, 2018. "Evolution of the Infant Health Production Function," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(1), pages 6-47, July.
    27. Maruyama, Shiko & Heinesen, Eskil, 2020. "Another look at returns to birthweight," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    28. Jere R. Behrman & Mark R. Rosenzweig, 2004. "Returns to Birthweight," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(2), pages 586-601, May.
    29. Belsky, D.W. & Moffitt, T.E. & Caspi, A., 2013. "Genetics in population health science: Strategies and opportunities," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(SUPPL.1), pages 73-83.
    30. repec:ucn:wpaper:10197/317 is not listed on IDEAS
    31. Molly Dahl & Thomas DeLeire & Jonathan A. Schwabish, 2011. "Estimates of Year-to-Year Volatility in Earnings and in Household Incomes from Administrative, Survey, and Matched Data," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 46(4), pages 750-774.
    32. Bryan N Howie & Peter Donnelly & Jonathan Marchini, 2009. "A Flexible and Accurate Genotype Imputation Method for the Next Generation of Genome-Wide Association Studies," PLOS Genetics, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(6), pages 1-15, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Petri Böckerman & John Cawley & Jutta Viinikainen & Terho Lehtimäki & Suvi Rovio & Ilkka Seppälä & Jaakko Pehkonen & Olli Raitakari, 2019. "The effect of weight on labor market outcomes: An application of genetic instrumental variables," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 65-77, January.
    2. Böckerman, Petri & Vainiomäki, Jari, 2013. "Stature and life-time labor market outcomes: Accounting for unobserved differences," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 86-96.
    3. Viinikainen, Jutta & Bryson, Alex & Böckerman, Petri & Kari, Jaana T. & Lehtimäki, Terho & Raitakari, Olli & Viikari, Jorma & Pehkonen, Jaakko, 2022. "Does better education mitigate risky health behavior? A mendelian randomization study," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    4. Damian Clarke & Sonia Oreffice & Climent Quintana‐Domeque, 2021. "On the Value of Birth Weight," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 83(5), pages 1130-1159, October.
    5. Christina Hansen Edwards & Johan Håkon Bjørngaard & Jonas Minet Kinge, 2021. "The relationship between body mass index and income: Using genetic variants from HUNT as instrumental variables," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(8), pages 1933-1949, August.
    6. Noghanibehambari, Hamid & Engelman, Michal, 2022. "Social insurance programs and later-life mortality: Evidence from new deal relief spending," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    7. Hazewinkel, Audinga-Dea & Richmond, Rebecca C. & Wade, Kaitlin H. & Dixon, Padraig, 2022. "Mendelian randomization analysis of the causal impact of body mass index and waist-hip ratio on rates of hospital admission," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    8. Gabriella Conti & Mark Hanson & Hazel Inskip & Sarah Crozier & Cyrus Cooper & Keith Godfrey, 2018. "Beyond Birth Weight: The Origins of Human Capital," Working Papers 2018-089, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    9. Barban, Nicola & De Cao, Elisabetta & Oreffice, Sonia & Quintana-Domeque, Climent, 2021. "The effect of education on spousal education: A genetic approach," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    10. Yuda, Michio, 2020. "Childhood health and future outcomes: Evidence from panel surveys for the Japanese population," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    11. Mao Nakayama & Midori Matsushima, 2023. "Age-related changes in the effect of birth weight on child development: findings from a Japanese Longitudinal Survey," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 177-197, January.
    12. Brandon J. Restrepo, 2016. "Parental investment responses to a low birth weight outcome: who compensates and who reinforces?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(4), pages 969-989, October.
    13. Kinge, Jonas Minet, 2016. "Waist circumference, body mass index and employment outcomes," HERO Online Working Paper Series 2016:4, University of Oslo, Health Economics Research Programme.
    14. Santosh Kumar & Kaushalendra Kumar & Ramanan Laxminarayan & Arindam Nandi, 2022. "Birth Weight and Cognitive Development during Childhood: Evidence from India," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 41(2), pages 155-175, June.
    15. Kamble, Vaibhav, 2021. "Health Returns to Birth Weight: Evidence from Developing Countries," MPRA Paper 105150, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Møllegaard, Stine, 2020. "The effect of birth weight on behavioral problems in early adolescence: New evidence from monozygotic twins," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 36(C).
    17. Kreiner, Claus Thustrup & Sievertsen, Hans Henrik, 2020. "Neonatal health of parents and cognitive development of children," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    18. Matsushima, Midori & Shimizutani, Satoshi & Yamada, Hiroyuki, 2018. "Life course consequences of low birth weight: Evidence from Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 37-47.
    19. Dixon, Padraig & Hollingworth, William & Harrison, Sean & Davies, Neil M. & Davey Smith, George, 2020. "Mendelian Randomization analysis of the causal effect of adiposity on hospital costs," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    20. Noghanibehambari, Hamid, 2022. "Intergenerational health effects of Medicaid," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:30:y:2021:i:10:p:2383-2398. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/5749 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.