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Critical Periods during Childhood and Adolescence: A Study of Adult Height among Immigrant Siblings

Author

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  • van den Berg, Gerard J.

    (Department of Economics, University of Mannheim)

  • Lundborg, Petter

    (Department of Economics, Lund University)

  • Nystedt, Paul

    (Department of Economics, Linköping University)

  • Rooth, Dan-Olof

    (Linnaeus University)

Abstract

We identify the ages that constitute critical periods in children’s development towards their adult health status. For this we use data on families migrating into Sweden from countries that are poorer, with less healthy conditions. Long-run health is proxied by adult height. The relation between siblings’ ages at migration and their heights after age 18 allows us to estimate the causal effect of conditions at certain ages on adult height. We effectively exploit that for siblings the migration occurs simultaneously in calendar time but at different developmental stages (ages). We find some evidence that the period just before the puberty growth spurt constitutes a critical period.

Suggested Citation

  • van den Berg, Gerard J. & Lundborg, Petter & Nystedt, Paul & Rooth, Dan-Olof, 2012. "Critical Periods during Childhood and Adolescence: A Study of Adult Height among Immigrant Siblings," Working Papers 2012:23, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2012_023
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    Cited by:

    1. Gerard J. van den Berg & Pia R. Pinger & Johannes Schoch, 2016. "Instrumental Variable Estimation of the Causal Effect of Hunger Early in Life on Health Later in Life," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(591), pages 465-506, March.
    2. Brunori, Paolo & Peragine, Vito & Serlenga, Laura, 2012. "Fairness in education: The Italian university before and after the reform," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 764-777.
    3. van den Berg, Gerard J. & Pinger, Pia, 2014. "A Validation Study of Transgenerational Effects of Childhood Conditions on the Third Generation Offspring's Economic and Health Outcomes Potentially Driven by Epigenetic Imprinting," IZA Discussion Papers 7999, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Bruckner, Tim A. & van den Berg, Gerard J. & Smith, Kirk R. & Catalano, Ralph A., 2014. "Ambient temperature during gestation and cold-related adult mortality in a Swedish cohort, 1915–2002," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 191-197.
    5. Åslund, Olof & Böhlmark, Anders & Skans, Oskar Nordström, 2015. "Childhood and family experiences and the social integration of young migrants," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 135-144.
    6. Denis Cogneau & Lionel Kesztenbaum, 2016. "Short and long-term impacts of famines: The case of the siege of Paris 1870-1871," Working Papers halshs-01321939, HAL.
    7. Lundborg, Petter & Nystedt, Paul & Rooth, Dan-Olof, 2009. "The Height Premium in Earnings: The Role of Physical Capacity and Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills," IZA Discussion Papers 4266, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Van den Berg, Gerard & Modin, Bitte, 2013. "Economic Conditions at Birth, Birth Weight, Ability, and the Causal Path to Cardiovascular Mortality," CEPR Discussion Papers 9650, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Brunello, Giorgio & Fabbri, Daniele & Fort, Margherita, 2009. "Years of Schooling, Human Capital and the Body Mass Index of European Females," IZA Discussion Papers 4667, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Victor Lavy & Analia Schlosser & Adi Shany, 2016. "Out of Africa: Human Capital Consequences of In Utero Conditions," NBER Working Papers 21894, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. de Oliveira, Victor Hugo & Quintana-Domeque, Climent, 2014. "Early-life environment and adult stature in Brazil: An analysis for cohorts born between 1950 and 1980," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 67-80.
    12. Victor Hugo de Oliveira & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2014. "Early-Life Environment and Adult Stature in Brazil during the Period 1950 to 1980," Working Papers 2014-008, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    13. van den Berg, Gerard J. & Gupta, Sumedha, 2015. "The role of marriage in the causal pathway from economic conditions early in life to mortality," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 141-158.
    14. Åslund, Olof & Böhlmark, Anders & Nordström Skans, Oskar, 2009. "Age at migration and social integration," Working Paper Series 2009:21, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    15. Petter Lundborg & Martin Nordin & Dan Olof Rooth, 2018. "The intergenerational transmission of human capital: the role of skills and health," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(4), pages 1035-1065, October.
    16. Vikström, Johan & Rosholm, Michael & Svarer, Michael, 2011. "The relative efficiency of active labour market policy: evidence from a social experiment and non-parametric methods," Working Paper Series 2011:7, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    17. Akee, Randall K. Q. & Simeonova, Emilia & Copeland, William & Angold, Adrian & Costello, Jane E., 2010. "Does More Money Make You Fat? The Effects of Quasi-Experimental Income Transfers on Adolescent and Young Adult Obesity," IZA Discussion Papers 5135, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    early-life conditions; migration; parental education; adult health; height retardation; age; fetal programming; developmental origins;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • N30 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - General, International, or Comparative

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