How much does birth weight matter for child health in developing countries? Estimates from siblings and twins
利用66个国家的数据，通过兄弟姐妹和双胞胎识别策略，估计出生体重对儿童死亡风险、发育迟缓、消瘦和咳嗽等健康指标的影响，发现出生体重有显著且一致的作用，且死亡率选择可能导致系数被低估。
About 200 million children globally are not meeting their growth potential, and as a result will suffer the consequences in terms of future outcomes. I examine the effects of birth weight on child health and growth using information from 66 countries. I account for missing data and measurement error using instrumental variables and adopt an identification strategy based on siblings and twins. I find a consistent effect of birth weight on mortality risk, stunting, wasting, and coughing, with some evidence for fever, diarrhoea, and anaemia. Bounds analysis indicates that coefficients may be substantially underestimated due to mortality selection. Improving the pre-natal environment is likely to be important for helping children reach their full potential.