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The Effect of Maternal Employment on the Likelihood of a Child Being Overweight

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Author Info
Anna Zhu () (School of Economics, The University of New South Wales)
Abstract

Childhood obesity has increased dramatically in the developed world. One cause of this trend, suggested by studies in the United States, is the increase in maternal employment. This paper explores if the causal relationship exists in Australia. Using recent data from the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Children (LSAC), a 2SLS procedure and a Full Information Maximum Likelihood (FIML) model that jointly estimates a multinomial treatment and binary outcome is used to control for endogeneity and self-selection bias, respectively. The results consistently show that maternal employment does have an impact on the likelihood of a child being overweight and that this impact is positive and statistically significant.

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File URL: http://wwwdocs.fce.unsw.edu.au/economics/Research/WorkingPapers/2007_17.pdf
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Paper provided by School of Economics, The University of New South Wales in its series Discussion Papers with number 2007-17.

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Length: 35 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:swe:wpaper:2007-17

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Related research
Keywords: Child obesity; Maternal employment; Regression analysis; 2SLS; FIML; Endogeneity; Self-selection bias;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
C30 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - General
C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
C35 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models

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  1. Schmertmann, Carl P., 1994. "Selectivity bias correction methods in polychotomous sample selection models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1-2), pages 101-132. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Keane, Michael P, 1992. "A Note on Identification in the Multinomial Probit Model," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 10(2), pages 193-200, April.
  3. Partha Deb & Pravin K. Trivedi, 2006. "Maximum simulated likelihood estimation of a negative binomial regression model with multinomial endogenous treatment," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 6(2), pages 246-255, June. [Downloadable!]
  4. David Cutler & Edward Glaeser & Jesse Shapiro, 2003. "Why Have Americans Become More Obese?," NBER Working Papers 9446, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Blau, Francine D & Grossberg, Adam J, 1992. "Maternal Labor Supply and Children's Cognitive Development," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 74(3), pages 474-81, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Susanne James-Burdumy, 2005. "The Effect of Maternal Labor Force Participation on Child Development," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(1), pages 177-176, January. [Downloadable!]
  7. Paul Gregg & Elizabeth Washbrook & Carol Propper & Simon Burgess, 2005. "The Effects of a Mother's Return to Work Decision on Child Development in the UK," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(501), pages F48-F80, 02. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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