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Author: Paxson, Christina
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. Case, Anne
Paxson, Christina
Causes and Consequences of Early Life Health
NBER Working Paper 15637, National Bureau of Economic Research, January 2010.
Also: http://www.nber.org/papers/w15637.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Birthweight; British Cohort Study (BCS); Child Health; Cognitive Development; Data Quality/Consistency; Digit Span (also see Memory for Digit Span - WISC); Disability; Earnings; Educational Attainment; Health and Retirement Study (HRS); Height; Life Course; Methods/Methodology; Modeling, Fixed Effects; NCDS - National Child Development Study (British); Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Pre/post Natal Behavior; Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC); Siblings; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT

We examine the consequences of childhood health for economic and health outcomes in adulthood, using height as a marker of health in childhood. After reviewing previous evidence, we present a conceptual framework that highlights data limitations and methodological problems associated with the study of this topic. We present estimates of the associations between height and a range of outcomes, including schooling, employment, earnings, health and cognitive ability, using data collected from early to late adulthood on cohort members in five longitudinal data sets. We find height is uniformly associated with better economic, health and cognitive outcomes--a result only partially explained by the higher average educational attainment of taller individuals. We then turn to the NLSY79 Children and Young Adult Survey to better understand what specific aspects of early childhood are captured by height. We find, even among maternal siblings, taller siblings score better on cognitive tests and progress through school more quickly. Part of the differences found between siblings arises from differences in their birth weights and lengths attributable to mother's behaviors while pregnant. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that childhood health influences health and economic status throughout the life course.
Bibliography Citation
Case, Anne and Christina Paxson. "Causes and Consequences of Early Life Health." NBER Working Paper 15637, National Bureau of Economic Research, January 2010.
2. Case, Anne
Paxson, Christina
Causes and Consequences of Early-Life Health
Demography 47,Supplement (August 2010): S65-S85.
Also: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/demography/v047/47.S.case.html
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Birthweight; Child Health; Cognitive Ability; Educational Attainment; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Height, Height-Weight Ratios; Methods/Methodology; Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes; Siblings; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We examine the consequences of child health for economic and health outcomes in adulthood, using height as a marker of childhood health. After reviewing previous evidence, we present a conceptual framework that highlights data limitations and methodological problems that complicate the study of this topic. We then present estimates of the associations between height and a range of outcomes—including schooling, employment, earnings, health, and cognitive ability—measured in five data sets from early to late adulthood. These results indicate that, on average, taller individuals attain higher levels of education. Height is also positively associated with better economic, health, and cognitive outcomes. These associations are only partially explained by the higher average educational attainment of taller individuals. We then use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Children and Young Adults survey to document the associations between health, cognitive development, and growth in childhood. Even among children with the same mother, taller siblings score better on cognitive tests and progress through school more quickly. Part of the differences found between siblings arises from differences in their birth weights and lengths attributable to mother's behaviors while pregnant. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that childhood health influences health and economic status throughout adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Bibliography Citation
Case, Anne and Christina Paxson. "Causes and Consequences of Early-Life Health." Demography 47,Supplement (August 2010): S65-S85.
3. Case, Anne
Paxson, Christina
Stature and Status: Height, Ability, and Labor Market Outcomes
Journal of Political Economy 116,3 (June 2008):499-532.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/589524
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); British Cohort Study (BCS); Cognitive Ability; Cross-national Analysis; Digit Span (also see Memory for Digit Span - WISC); Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study; Genetics; Height; Labor Market Outcomes; Modeling, Fixed Effects; NCDS - National Child Development Study (British); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Racial Differences; Siblings; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT

The well-known association between height and earnings is often thought to reflect factors such as self-esteem, social dominance, and discrimination. We offer a simpler explanation: height is positively associated with cognitive ability, which is rewarded in the labor market. Using data from the United States and the United Kingdom, we show that taller children have higher average cognitive test scores and that these test scores explain a large portion of the height premium in earnings. Children who have higher test scores also experience earlier adolescent growth spurts, so that height in adolescence serves as a marker of cognitive ability.
Bibliography Citation
Case, Anne and Christina Paxson. "Stature and Status: Height, Ability, and Labor Market Outcomes." Journal of Political Economy 116,3 (June 2008):499-532.