Transitory shocks and birth weights: Evidence from a blackout in Zanzibar

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Burlando, Alfredo
• 署名单位: University of Oregon
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2014.01.012
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 154-168
• 关键词: africa; Birth weights; Blackouts; electricity; fertility; Neonatal health; Transitory income

摘要

Do transitory economic shocks affect neonatal outcomes? I show that an unexpected, month-long blackout in Tanzania caused a sharp but temporary drop in work hours and earnings for workers in electricity-dependent jobs. Using records from a maternity ward, I document a reduction in birth weights for children exposed in utero to the blackout, and an increase in the probability of low birth weight. The reduction is correlated with measures of maternal exposure to the blackout. The blackout also increased fertility for teenage and first-time mother, but selection into pregnancy cannot fully explain the drop in weights. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.