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Effect of Changing Business Condition on Prenatal Health
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- Authors
- Issue Date
- 2023-08
- Citation
- Seoul Journal of Economics Vol.36 no.3 pp.248-268
- Keywords
- Business cycle ; Unemployment ; Infant health ; Birth weight
- Abstract
- Previous studies from developed countries suggest that babies
conceived during recessions have better birth outcomes. However,
the issue of whether the relationship between business condition
and infant health differs across countries remains less clear. This
paper investigates how the macroeconomic conditions to which
mothers are exposed during pregnancy affect the birth outcomes of
children. The analyses are based on the universe of birth registration
records from 1993 to 2009 that are linked to the unemployment
statistics by province and month of birth. Results indicate that
prenatal exposure to higher unemployment significantly reduces
birth weights and increases the risk of low birth weight. A recession
has a stronger negative effect on fetal health during the first and
second trimesters than in the final stage of pregnancy. The negative
effects of prenatal exposure to higher unemployment rates on birth
weight are observed only for the children of non-working mothers.
Higher unemployment rates during pregnancy had considerably
stronger negative effects on birth outcomes during the period before
the financial crises of 1998 and 1999 than in the post-crisis period.
- ISSN
- 1225-0279
- Language
- English
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