Published May 2015
| public
Journal Article
Fear itself: The effects of distressing economic news on birth outcomes
- Creators
- Carlson, Kyle
Abstract
I use new administrative data on mass layoffs and plant closings to study the effects of distressing economic news. Exposure to stressful events during pregnancy can impair fetal development. I find that announcement of impending job losses leads to a transient decrease in the mean birth weight within the firm's county one to four months before the job losses. A loss of 500 jobs corresponds roughly to a decrease of 15–20 g and 16 percent greater risk of low birth weight. Layoffs announced late in pregnancy are most strongly linked to decreased birth outcomes.
Additional Information
© 2015 Elsevier B.V. Received 17 March 2014; Received in revised form 1 February 2015; Accepted 13 February 2015; Available online 27 February 2015.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 57998
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2015.02.003
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20150604-082548957
- Created
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2015-06-04Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field