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Growing together: assessing equity and efficiency in a prenatal health program

Author

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  • Damian Clarke

    (Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH)
    IZA)

  • Gustavo Cortés Méndez

    (Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH))

  • Diego Vergara Sepúlveda

    (Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH))

Abstract

We study the acting mechanism of an early-life social safety net program and quantify its impact on child health outcomes at birth. We consider both the equity and efficiency implications of program impacts and provide a metric to compare such programs around the world. In particular, we estimate the impact of participation in Chile Crece Contigo (ChCC), Chile’s flagship early-life health and social welfare program, using a difference-in-differences style model based on variation in program intensity and administrative birth data matched to social benefits usage. We find that this targeted social program had significant effects on birth weight (approximately 10 grams) and other early-life human capital measures. These benefits are largest among the most socially vulnerable groups but shift outcomes toward the middle of the distribution of health at birth. We show that the program is efficient when compared to other successful neonatal health programs around the world and find some evidence to suggest that maternal nutrition components and increased links to the social safety net are important action mechanisms.

Suggested Citation

  • Damian Clarke & Gustavo Cortés Méndez & Diego Vergara Sepúlveda, 2020. "Growing together: assessing equity and efficiency in a prenatal health program," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 883-956, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:33:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s00148-019-00761-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-019-00761-6
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Sarah Miller & Laura Wherry, 2022. "Covering Undocumented Immigrants: The Effects of a Large-Scale Prenatal Care Intervention," Working Papers 22-28, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    3. Britta Rude, 2024. "Middle-run educational impacts of comprehensive early childhood interventions: evidence from a pioneer program in Chile," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 1-30, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public health; Neonatal health; Social security; Efficiency; Early-life investments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health

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