PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Bharadwaj, Prashant AU - Lundborg, Petter AU - Rooth, Dan-Olof TI - Birth Weight in the Long Run AID - 10.3368/jhr.53.1.0715-7235R DP - 2017 Jan 05 TA - Journal of Human Resources PG - 0715-7235R 4099 - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2017/01/03/jhr.53.1.0715-7235R.short 4100 - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2017/01/03/jhr.53.1.0715-7235R.full AB - We study the effect of birth weight on long-run outcomes using data on Swedish twins born between 1926–1958 linked to administrative records spanning entire life-time labor market histories. We find that birth weight positively affects permanent income and income across large parts of the lifecycle; the timing of the birth weight-income relationship is in line with the role of birth weight in determining take-up of sickness benefits and morbidity. The effect of birth weight on labor market outcomes even for cohorts born 30 years apart are similar; for short run health outcomes, birth weight plays a decreasing role over time.