Abstract
The positive relationship between income and health is well established. However, the direction of causality remains unclear: do economic resources influence health, or vice versa? Exploiting a new source of exogenous income variation, this study examines the impact of the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (APFD) on newborns' health outcomes. The results show that income has a significantly positive, but modest effect on birth weight. We find that an additional $1,000 ($2,331 in 2011 dollars) increases birth weight by 17.7 g and substantially decreases the likelihood of a low birth weight (a decrease of around 14% of the sample mean). Furthermore, the income effect is higher for less-educated mothers. Based on a gestation-weight profile in the sample, increased gestation owing to the APFD could explain a maximum of 34%-57% of the measured weight increase, although we are unable to examine all the potential mechanisms.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 576-590 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Economic Inquiry |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 Jan 1 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Economics and Econometrics
- Business, Management and Accounting(all)
Cite this
Money transfer and birth weight : Evidence from the Alaska permanent fund dividend. / Chung, Wankyo; Ha, Hyungserk; Kim, Beomsoo.
In: Economic Inquiry, Vol. 54, No. 1, 01.01.2016, p. 576-590.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Money transfer and birth weight
T2 - Evidence from the Alaska permanent fund dividend
AU - Chung, Wankyo
AU - Ha, Hyungserk
AU - Kim, Beomsoo
PY - 2016/1/1
Y1 - 2016/1/1
N2 - The positive relationship between income and health is well established. However, the direction of causality remains unclear: do economic resources influence health, or vice versa? Exploiting a new source of exogenous income variation, this study examines the impact of the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (APFD) on newborns' health outcomes. The results show that income has a significantly positive, but modest effect on birth weight. We find that an additional $1,000 ($2,331 in 2011 dollars) increases birth weight by 17.7 g and substantially decreases the likelihood of a low birth weight (a decrease of around 14% of the sample mean). Furthermore, the income effect is higher for less-educated mothers. Based on a gestation-weight profile in the sample, increased gestation owing to the APFD could explain a maximum of 34%-57% of the measured weight increase, although we are unable to examine all the potential mechanisms.
AB - The positive relationship between income and health is well established. However, the direction of causality remains unclear: do economic resources influence health, or vice versa? Exploiting a new source of exogenous income variation, this study examines the impact of the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (APFD) on newborns' health outcomes. The results show that income has a significantly positive, but modest effect on birth weight. We find that an additional $1,000 ($2,331 in 2011 dollars) increases birth weight by 17.7 g and substantially decreases the likelihood of a low birth weight (a decrease of around 14% of the sample mean). Furthermore, the income effect is higher for less-educated mothers. Based on a gestation-weight profile in the sample, increased gestation owing to the APFD could explain a maximum of 34%-57% of the measured weight increase, although we are unable to examine all the potential mechanisms.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84948715189&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84948715189&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/ecin.12235
DO - 10.1111/ecin.12235
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84948715189
VL - 54
SP - 576
EP - 590
JO - Economic Inquiry
JF - Economic Inquiry
SN - 0095-2583
IS - 1
ER -