The project evaluates the effects of a range of different “early interventions” on child outcomes. I proposed to study 5 different “shocks”:
1) Legalizing abortion
After abortion was legalized in Spain (1985), birth rates fell among young women, as did the number of marriages involving very young women. These effects were more pronounced in provinces where abortion services were provided in the early years after legalization. We follow the affected cohorts of women over time and find that the short-term fall in births did not translate into lower completed fertility. Births and marriages were delayed, but eventually women caught up, and women who had early access to abortion were less likely to divorce, indicating higher-quality marriages. The evidence also suggests that women who were able to avoid an early birth thanks to legal abortion were more likely to complete high school. We show that limiting access to abortion may have important negative short- and long-term
consequences for women, without increasing completed fertility. This paper has been (conditionally) accepted for publication at the Economic Journal.
2) Paternity leave
We analyzed the effects of the introduction of paternity leave in Spain on parents’ and children’s outcomes. We found that families where the father was eligible for paternity leave after the birth of a child were less likely to have another child in the future, compared with families where the father was not eligible. This may be because mothers go back to work earlier in households where the father can take paternity leave, but also because affected fathers have lower desired fertility. We also find that affected fathers spend more time on childcare even several years after the birth of the child. The first paper was published in the Journal of Public Economics. The second one (more theoretical) received a request to revise and resubmit from the Journal of the European Economic Association.
We then analyze the effect of paternity leave on child development and children’s attitudes about gender roles. We produced two working papers, one of which received a reject and resubmit from the Journal of Political Economy.
3) Family subsidies on children
First we analyze the effect of child benefits on fertility, exploiting the introduction and later cancelation of a child benefit in Spain. This paper was published at the Journal of Human Resources.
We then analyze the effects of benefit receipt on child human capital. We compare children who were born just before and just after the introduction of a universal child benefit in Spain in 2007. We find no significant effect on health outcomes or grades in primary school. We conclude that receiving the benefit after the birth of the child had no short or medium-term effects on health or cognitive development. This paper was accepted in the Journal of Labor Economics.
We then study effects on health for the younger siblings of the children born around the benefit introduction date in 2007. The question is now whether benefit receipt (in 2007) had any effect on the health at birth of the next child. We find that low-income women who received the benefit after having a child in 2007 were less likely to have a low-birthweight baby in their following pregnancy. This paper was published in the Journal of Health Economics.
4) Aggregate demand shocks
We produced a paper analyzing the effect of demand shocks to the tourism industry on local employment and wages. This paper was accepted for publication at the Journal of Human Resources.
5) Early elective deliveries
We exploit the cancelation of a child benefit in Spain to explore the effects of early elective deliveries on child health (at ages 0 to 10). We conclude that the short-term negative effects on respiratory health did not translate into long-term negative health effects. We are waiting to receive data on school outcomes in order to conduct the analysis of the effects on cognitive development (test scores). There was a substantial delay in data access due to the interruption of the collaboration between the regional statistical institute and the Barcelona School of Economics. We expect to be able to produce a working paper shortly.
