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Effects of health insurance on birth weight in Mexico

Author

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  • Santosh Kumar
  • Fidel Gonzalez

Abstract

This paper estimates the effect of mother's insurance coverage on neonatal outcomes in Mexico using hospital‐based administrative data. Using an instrumental variable approach to identify the causal effects of health insurance on infant health, we find that mother's insurance coverage has positive impacts on neonatal outcomes. Children born to insured mothers weighed 108 g higher and had reduced probability of low birth weight by 7.5 percentage points. These effects appear to be stronger for mothers with higher levels of education and in municipalities with a higher development index. Findings indicate that expanding insurance coverage could be helpful in improving neonatal outcomes in resource‐constrained countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Santosh Kumar & Fidel Gonzalez, 2018. "Effects of health insurance on birth weight in Mexico," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(8), pages 1149-1159, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:27:y:2018:i:8:p:1149-1159
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.3662
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jing Jian Xiao & Chunsheng Tao, 2020. "Consumer finance/household finance: the definition and scope," China Finance Review International, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(1), pages 1-25, June.
    2. Santosh Kumar & Fidel Gonzalez, 2020. "The Quantile effects of prenatal care on birth weight in Mexico," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(2), pages 1498-1507.

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