Our Seminars & Workshops

Title: Born Too Soon? The Educational Costs of Early Elective Deliveries (with Parijat Maitra)

Abstract: Low birthweight is linked to adverse long-term outcomes, including lower educational attainment. However, disentangling the causes of this association is challenging, as low birthweight can result from both shortened gestation and impaired fetal growth. We leverage a natural experiment in Spain, where a surge in early elective deliveries, triggered by the cancellation of a generous child benefit, led to lower birthweight and reduced gestational age for non-medical reasons. Using a difference-in-differences approach with adjacent cohorts as controls, we find that early birth had no lasting impact on health outcomes, but affected children performed significantly worse in school, pointing to detrimental effects on cognitive development.