Economist
How Infant Health Shapes Maternal Earnings
[Draft] [Online Appendix] ​
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Abstract : This paper investigates whether children born at low birth weight or prematurely have a ripple effect on the mother's earnings trajectory. To do so, I exploit rich administrative data linking mothers' tax records to their children's birth certificates in Canada. Using an event study that compares similar mothers in terms of pre-birth outcomes, I find an increasing penalty of child health on earnings from birth to school entry age. Although modest, this penalty tends to increase income inequalities between mothers and the gender pay gap within households. The results suggest that childhood health complications and physical or mental strain on mothers drive the penalty.
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Prenatal Exposure to PM2.5 and Infant Health: Evidence from Quebec (joint with Guy Lacroix & Maripier Isabelle)​
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Abstract : This paper contributes to the literature on the impact of in utero exposure to air pollution on birth outcomes by examining both average exposure and exposure to pollution spikes, with a focus on the understudied effects of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Using linked data on births and air pollution at the postal code level in Quebec, Canada, from 2008 to 2015, we employ a two-way fixed effects model to address the endogeneity of pollution exposure. Although we find no significant effects at the population level, the results indicate worse birth outcomes for female babies and those born to less educated mothers exposed to high pollution. Specifically, these groups face the higher risks of low birth weight, lower gestational age, and preterm birth. Exposure to days of high pollution also increases the risk of very low birth weight and low 5-minute Apgar scores for babies in neonatal intensive care. These findings emphasize the need for targeted interventions to mitigate short-term pollution spikes.
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Intergenerational transmission of inequalities: Are health inequalities at birth the missing link? (joint with Guy Lacroix and Maripier Isabelle)
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Abstract : This paper explores the intergenerational impact of low birth weight on socioeconomic mobility using linked data from two Canadian birth cohorts (1983–1996 and 2006–2015). Using a sibling fixed-effects approach, we find that mothers born with low birth weight are 30% more likely to have a low-birth-weight child, driven partly by the mother’s socioeconomic status (SES) at the time of her child’s birth. Low birth weight is also linked to poorer educational and income outcomes. More strikingly, children born with low birth weight are less likely to achieve upward social mobility. These findings suggest that prenatal health interventions could reduce intergenerational disadvantage.
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Work in progress:
The impact of childhood social skills and self-control training on social mobility (joint with Yann Algan, Elizabeth Beasley, Sylvana Côté, and Maripier Isabelle)
Hospital congestion and patient outcomes: Evidence from NICUs relocation in Quebec (joint with Guy Lacroix)
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