Birth order and health of newborns: What can we learn from Danish registry data?
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Birth order and health of newborns : What can we learn from Danish registry data? / Brenøe, Anne Ardila; Molitor, Ramona.
I: Journal of Population Economics, Bind 31, Nr. 2, 2018, s. 363-395.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Birth order and health of newborns
T2 - What can we learn from Danish registry data?
AU - Brenøe, Anne Ardila
AU - Molitor, Ramona
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - We examine birth order differences in health of newborns and follow the children throughout childhood using high-quality administrative data on individuals born in Denmark between 1981 and 2010. Family fixed effects models show a positive and robust effect of birth order on health at birth; firstborn children are less healthy at birth. During earlier pregnancies, women are more likely to smoke, receive more prenatal care, and are more likely to suffer a medical pregnancy complication, suggesting worse maternal health. We further show that the health disadvantage of firstborns persists in the first years of life, disappears by age seven, and becomes a health advantage in adolescence. In contrast, later-born children are throughout childhood more likely to suffer an injury. The results on health in adolescence are consistent with previous evidence of a firstborn advantage in education and with the hypothesis that postnatal investments differ between first- and later-born children.
AB - We examine birth order differences in health of newborns and follow the children throughout childhood using high-quality administrative data on individuals born in Denmark between 1981 and 2010. Family fixed effects models show a positive and robust effect of birth order on health at birth; firstborn children are less healthy at birth. During earlier pregnancies, women are more likely to smoke, receive more prenatal care, and are more likely to suffer a medical pregnancy complication, suggesting worse maternal health. We further show that the health disadvantage of firstborns persists in the first years of life, disappears by age seven, and becomes a health advantage in adolescence. In contrast, later-born children are throughout childhood more likely to suffer an injury. The results on health in adolescence are consistent with previous evidence of a firstborn advantage in education and with the hypothesis that postnatal investments differ between first- and later-born children.
KW - Birth order
KW - Child health
KW - Fetal health
KW - Health at birth
KW - Prenatal investments
U2 - 10.1007/s00148-017-0660-1
DO - 10.1007/s00148-017-0660-1
M3 - Journal article
VL - 31
SP - 363
EP - 395
JO - Journal of Population Economics
JF - Journal of Population Economics
SN - 0933-1433
IS - 2
ER -
ID: 222750371