Arbeitspapier
Twin Birth and Maternal Condition
Twin births are often construed as a natural experiment in the social and natural sciences on the premise that the occurrence of twins is quasi-random. We present new population-level evidence that challenges this premise. Using individual data for 17 million births in 72 countries, we demonstrate that indicators of mother's health and health-related behaviours are systematically positively associated with the probability of a twin birth. The estimated associations are sizeable, evident in richer and poorer countries, evident even among women who do not use IVF, and hold for numerous different measures of health. We discuss potential mechanisms, showing evidence that favours selective miscarriage. Positive selection of women into twinning implies that estimates of impacts of fertility on parental investments and on women's labour supply that use twin births to instrument fertility will tend to be downward biased. This is pertinent given the emerging consensus that these relationships are weak. Our findings also potentially challenge the external validity of studies that rely upon twin differences.
- Sprache
-
Englisch
- Erschienen in
-
Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 11742
- Klassifikation
-
Wirtschaft
Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
Estimation: General
Household Production and Intrahousehold Allocation
Health Behavior
- Thema
-
parental investment
fertility
miscarriage
maternal health
twins
women's labor supply
- Ereignis
-
Geistige Schöpfung
- (wer)
-
Bhalotra, Sonia R.
Clarke, Damian
- Ereignis
-
Veröffentlichung
- (wer)
-
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
- (wo)
-
Bonn
- (wann)
-
2018
- Handle
- Letzte Aktualisierung
-
10.03.2025, 00:44 MEZ
Datenpartner
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.
Objekttyp
- Arbeitspapier
Beteiligte
- Bhalotra, Sonia R.
- Clarke, Damian
- Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
Entstanden
- 2018
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