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Title: Money Transfer and Birth Weight A Causal Link from Alaska
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2011
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Abstract: Richer, better-educated people live longer than poorer, less-educated people. This correlation is well-known but the causal link is not yet certain. In this paper we will use the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividends (APFD) as an income shock to Alaska residents and examine the health outcomes of newborns. Almost every Alaska resident has received the same amount of APFD once per year regardless of their age or income since 1982. Due to a long legal battle and unconstitutionality of the proposed dividend distribution plan by US Supreme Court the first and second dividend distribution in 1982 and 1983 respectively was unexpected shock to public. We use this random income shock as an instrument of family income to identify causal link between income and health. By focusing on birth weight we haveaccurate measure of outcome for census of all births and minimize reverse causality concern. We found that income statistically significantly improves birth weight, but the effect is moderate in magnitude. One thousand dollar income improves the birth weight by 14 grams. Low birth weight is also slightly decreased with higher income. We also examined the possible mechanism of birth weight improvementbut higher medical care utilization or lower labor supply did not provide supporting evidence.
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Authors: Kim, Beomsoo; Chung, Wankyo
Publisher: Korea Development Institute and Korea University
Data Collections: IPUMS CPS
Topics: Fertility and Mortality, Other
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