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Genetic markers as instrumental variables: an application to child fat mass and academic achievement

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  • von Hinke Kessler Scholder, S
  • Propper, C
  • Lawlor, D
  • Windmeijer, F
  • Davey Smith, G

Abstract

The use of genetic markers as instrumental variables (IV) is receiving increasing attention from economists. This paper examines the conditions that need to be met for genetic variants to be used as instruments. We combine the IV literature with that from genetic epidemiology, with an application to child adiposity (fat mass, determined by a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan) and academic performance. OLS results indicate that leaner children perform slightly better in school tests compared to their more adipose counterparts, but the IV findings show no evidence that fat mass affects academic outcomes.

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Paper provided by Imperial College, London, Imperial College Business School in its series Working Papers with number 5772.

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Handle: RePEc:imp:wpaper:5772

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As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
  1. The Effect of Child Weight on Academic Performance: Evidence using Genetic Markers
    by Kevin Denny in Geary Behaviour Centre on 2009-07-29 14:56:00
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Cited by:
  1. Eide, Eric R. & Showalter, Mark H., 2011. "Estimating the relation between health and education: What do we know and what do we need to know?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 778-791, October.
  2. Nicholas A. Christakis & Jan-Emmanuel De Neve & James H. Fowler & Bruno S. Frey, 2012. "Genes, Economics and Happiness," CEP Discussion Papers dp1127, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.

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