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Typically Unobserved Variables (TUVs) and Selection into Prenatal Inputs: Implications for Estimating Infant Health Production Functions

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Author Info
Nancy E. Reichman (Robert Wood Johnson Medical School University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey)
Hope Corman (Rider University and NBER)
Kelly Noonan (Rider University and NBER)
Dhaval Dave (Bentley College and NBER)

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Abstract

We use survey data, augmented with data collected from respondents’ medical records, to explore selection into prenatal inputs among a group of urban, mostly unmarried mothers. We explore the extent to which several theoretically important but typically unobserved variables (representing wantedness, taste for risky behavior, and maternal health endowment) are likely to bias the estimated effects of prenatal inputs (illicit drug use, cigarette smoking, and prenatal care) on infant health outcomes (birth weight, low birth weight, and abnormal conditions). We also explore the consequences of including other non-standard covariates and of using selfreported inputs versus measures of inputs that incorporate information from medical records. We find that although the typically unobserved variables have strong associations with both inputs and outcomes with high explanatory power, excluding them from infant health production functions does not substantially bias the estimated effects of prenatal inputs. The bias from using self-reported measures of the inputs is much more substantial. The results suggest promising new directions for research on the production of infant health.

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Paper provided by Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Migration and Development. in its series Working Papers with number 930.

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Date of creation: Jan 2006
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Handle: RePEc:pri:cmgdev:930

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  1. Joyce, Theodore, 1999. "Impact of augmented prenatal care on birth outcomes of Medicaid recipients in New York City," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 31-67, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Evans, William N. & Lien, Diana S., 2005. "The benefits of prenatal care: evidence from the PAT bus strike," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1-2), pages 207-239. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Robert Kaestner & Theodore Joyce & Hassan Wehbeh, 1996. "The Effect of Maternal Drug Use on Birth Weight: Measurement Error in Binary Variables," NBER Working Papers 5434, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Kelly Noonan & Nancy E. Reichman & Hope Corman & Dhaval Dave, 2005. "Prenatal Drug Use and the Production of Infant Health," NBER Working Papers 11433, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Teitler, Julien O., 2001. "Father involvement, child health and maternal health behavior," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4-5), pages 403-425. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Hope Corman & Theodore J. Joyce & Michael Grossman, 1987. "Birth Outcome Production Functions in the U.S," NBER Working Papers 1729, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Grossman, Michael & Joyce, Theodore J, 1990. "Unobservables, Pregnancy Resolutions, and Birth Weight Production Functions in New York City," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 983-1007, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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