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Female babies and risk-aversion: Causal evidence from hospital wards

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  • Pogrebna, Ganna
  • Oswald, Andrew J.
  • Haig, David

Abstract

Using ultrasound scan data from paediatric hospitals, and the exogenous ‘shock’ of learning the gender of an unborn baby, the paper documents the first causal evidence that offspring gender affects adult risk-aversion. On a standard Holt-Laury criterion, parents of daughters, whether unborn or recently born, become almost twice as risk-averse as parents of sons. The study demonstrates this in longitudinal and cross-sectional data, for fathers and mothers, for babies in the womb and new-born children, and in a West European nation and East European nation. These findings may eventually aid our understanding of risky health behaviors and gender inequalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Pogrebna, Ganna & Oswald, Andrew J. & Haig, David, 2018. "Female babies and risk-aversion: Causal evidence from hospital wards," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 10-17.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:58:y:2018:i:c:p:10-17
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2017.12.006
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    Cited by:

    1. Li, Wenchao, 2023. "Gender of children and risky health behaviors: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Pregnancy; Risk attitudes; Daughters; Child gender;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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