PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Prashant Bharadwaj
AU  - Petter Lundborg
AU  - Dan-Olof Rooth
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.