IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/dpr/wpaper/1153rrr.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Effects of Gender-Specific Local Labor Demand on Birth and Later Outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Mika Akesaka
  • Nobuyoshi Kikuchi

Abstract

We study the effects of local labor market conditions during early pregnancy on birth and later outcomes. Using a longitudinal survey of newborns in Japan, we find that improvements in employment opportunities increase the probability of low birth weight and premature birth. We also examine the effects of gender-specific labor market conditions. An increase in labor demand for women has a large negative effect on gestational age, especially for mothers who gave birth at relatively young ages. However, we find little evidence of a lasting negative effect of an increase in labor demand during early pregnancy on serious health conditions or developmental delays in early childhood. Using prefecture-level panel data, we confirm that the negative effect on infant birth weight is not driven by selective fertility and mortality.

Suggested Citation

  • Mika Akesaka & Nobuyoshi Kikuchi, 2021. "The Effects of Gender-Specific Local Labor Demand on Birth and Later Outcomes," ISER Discussion Paper 1153rrr, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University, revised May 2024.
    • Handle: RePEc:dpr:wpaper:1153rrr
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.iser.osaka-u.ac.jp/library/dp/2021/DP1153RRR.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lee, Chulhee, 2014. "In utero exposure to the Korean War and its long-term effects on socioeconomic and health outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 76-93.
    2. Arna Olafsson, 2016. "Household Financial Distress and Initial Endowments: Evidence from the 2008 Financial Crisis," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(S2), pages 43-56, November.
    3. Marianne Page & Jessamyn Schaller & David Simon, 2019. "The Effects of Aggregate and Gender-Specific Labor Demand Shocks on Child Health," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(1), pages 37-78.
    4. De Cao, Elisabetta & McCormick, Barry & Nicodemo, Catia, 2022. "Does unemployment worsen babies’ health? A tale of siblings, maternal behaviour, and selection," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. Rossin, Maya, 2011. "The effects of maternity leave on children's birth and infant health outcomes in the United States," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 221-239, March.
    6. Maruyama, Shiko & Heinesen, Eskil, 2020. "Another look at returns to birthweight," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    7. Janet Currie, 2009. "Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Socioeconomic Status, Poor Health in Childhood, and Human Capital Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 87-122, March.
    8. repec:wly:hlthec:v:25:y:2016:i::p:43-56 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Yamaguchi, Shintaro & Asai, Yukiko & Kambayashi, Ryo, 2018. "How does early childcare enrollment affect children, parents, and their interactions?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 56-71.
    10. Bhalotra, Sonia, 2010. "Fatal fluctuations? Cyclicality in infant mortality in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 7-19, September.
    11. Ruhm, Christopher J. & Black, William E., 2002. "Does drinking really decrease in bad times?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 659-678, July.
    12. Douglas Almond & Janet Currie, 2011. "Killing Me Softly: The Fetal Origins Hypothesis," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(3), pages 153-172, Summer.
    13. Lindo, Jason M., 2011. "Parental job loss and infant health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 869-879.
    14. Christopher J. Ruhm, 2000. "Are Recessions Good for Your Health?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(2), pages 617-650.
    15. Timothy J. Bartik, 1991. "Who Benefits from State and Local Economic Development Policies?," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number wbsle.
    16. van den Berg, Gerard J. & Paul, Alexander & Reinhold, Steffen, 2020. "Economic conditions and the health of newborns: Evidence from comprehensive register data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    17. Hilary Hoynes & Douglas L. Miller & Jessamyn Schaller, 2012. "Who Suffers during Recessions?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(3), pages 27-48, Summer.
    18. Jessamyn Schaller, 2016. "Booms, Busts, and Fertility: Testing the Becker Model Using Gender-Specific Labor Demand," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 51(1), pages 1-29.
    19. Kyriopoulos, Ilias & Nikoloski, Zlatko & Mossialos, Elias, 2019. "Does economic recession impact newborn health? Evidence from Greece," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 1-1.
    20. Zhuan Pei & Jörn-Steffen Pischke & Hannes Schwandt, 2019. "Poorly Measured Confounders are More Useful on the Left than on the Right," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 205-216, April.
    21. Fukai, Taiyo, 2017. "Childcare availability and fertility: Evidence from municipalities in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1-18.
    22. Daniel Sullivan & Till von Wachter, 2009. "Job Displacement and Mortality: An Analysis Using Administrative Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(3), pages 1265-1306.
    23. FUKAO Kyoji & HAMAGATA Sumio & INUI Tomohiko & ITO Keiko & Hyeog Ug KWON & MAKINO Tatsuji & MIYAGAWA Tsutomu & NAKANISHI Yasuo & TOKUI Joji, 2007. "Estimation Procedures and TFP Analysis of the JIP Database 2006 Provisional Version," Discussion papers 07003, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Masato Oikawa & Takumi Toyono & Haruko Noguchi & Akira Kawamura, 2024. "Heterogeneous impacts of local unemployment rates on child neglect: Evidence from Japan’s vital statistics on mortality," Working Papers 2405, Waseda University, Faculty of Political Science and Economics.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:dpr:wpaper:1153rr is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Mika Akesaka & Nobuyoshi Kikuchi, 2021. "The Effects of Gender-Specific Local Labor Demand on Birth and Later Outcomes," ISER Discussion Paper 1153r, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University, revised May 2022.
    3. Mika Akesaka & Nobuyoshi Kikuchi, 2021. "The Effects of Gender-Specific Local Labor Demand on Birth and Later Outcomes," ISER Discussion Paper 1153, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    4. De Cao, Elisabetta & McCormick, Barry & Nicodemo, Catia, 2022. "Does unemployment worsen babies’ health? A tale of siblings, maternal behaviour, and selection," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. van den Berg, Gerard J. & Paul, Alexander & Reinhold, Steffen, 2020. "Economic conditions and the health of newborns: Evidence from comprehensive register data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    6. van den Berg, Gerard J. & Paul, Alexander & Reinhold, Steffen, 2018. "Econometric analysis of the effects of economic conditions on the health of newborns," Working Paper Series 2018:24, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    7. Clark, Andrew E. & D’Ambrosio, Conchita & Rohde, Nicholas, 2021. "Prenatal economic shocks and birth outcomes in UK cohort data," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    8. Seiz, Marta & Salazar, Leire & Eremenko, Tatiana, 2024. "Perinatal health in Spain during and after the Great Recession: Educational selection into fertility as a protective factor in high unemployment contexts," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    9. Carlson, Kyle, 2015. "Fear itself: The effects of distressing economic news on birth outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 117-132.
    10. Chad Cotti & David Simon, 2018. "The Impact Of Stock Market Fluctuations On The Mental And Physical Well‐Being Of Children," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(2), pages 1007-1027, April.
    11. Marianne Page & Jessamyn Schaller & David Simon, 2019. "The Effects of Aggregate and Gender-Specific Labor Demand Shocks on Child Health," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(1), pages 37-78.
    12. Duque, Valentina & Schmitz, Lauren L., 2020. "The Influence of Early-life Economic Shocks on Long-term Outcomes: Evidence from the U.S. Great Depression," Working Papers 2020-11, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    13. Lowenstein, Christopher, 2024. "“Deaths of despair” over the business cycle: New estimates from a shift-share instrumental variables approach," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    14. David M. Cutler & Wei Huang & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2016. "Economic Conditions and Mortality: Evidence from 200 Years of Data," NBER Working Papers 22690, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Mörk, Eva & Sjögren, Anna & Svaleryd, Helena, 2019. "Consequences of Parental Job Loss on the Family Environment and on Human Capital Formation: Evidence from Plant Closures," IZA Discussion Papers 12559, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Cristina Bellés‐Obrero & Sergi Jiménez‐Martín & Judit Vall‐Castello, 2016. "Bad Times, Slimmer Children?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(S2), pages 93-112, November.
    17. Hannes Schwandt, 2018. "Wealth Shocks and Health Outcomes: Evidence from Stock Market Fluctuations," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 349-377, October.
    18. Douglas Almond & Janet Currie & Valentina Duque, 2018. "Childhood Circumstances and Adult Outcomes: Act II," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(4), pages 1360-1446, December.
    19. Hoyong Jung, 2023. "Can Universal Cash Transfer Save Newborns’ Birth Weight During the Pandemic?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-22, February.
    20. Owen O'Donnell & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Tom Van Ourti, 2013. "Health and Inequality," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-170/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    21. Propper, Carol & Janke, Katharina & Lee, Kevin & Shields, Kalvinder & Shields, Michael A, 2020. "Macroeconomic Conditions and Health in Britain: Aggregation, Dynamics and Local Area Heterogeneity," CEPR Discussion Papers 14507, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:dpr:wpaper:1153rrr. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Librarian (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/isosujp.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.