This study examines the long-term effects of prenatal exposure to war violence on cognitive and developmental outcomes, focusing on children in Afghanistan, a country deeply affected by prolonged violent conflict. Using data from the 2022 Afghanistan Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys and...

There is a strong correlation between the preferences and beliefs of parents and their children. Also, children of more educated parents tend to have different preferences and beliefs than those of less educated parents. However, evidence on whether education influences adults' preferences...

Black children in the U.S. are twice as likely as white children to spend time in foster care. Such racial disparities raise concerns of discrimination, but might also reflect differences in the underlying need for intervention. This paper estimates unwarranted disparities (UDs)--racial...

The world has experienced a dramatic decline in total fertility rate (TFR) since the Industrial Revolution. Yet the consequences of this decline flow not merely from a reduction in births, but from a reduction in the number of surviving children. We propose a new measure of the number of...

The practice of medicine relies on accurate diagnosis. However, the diagnosis of many medical conditions involves assessments that invite varying degrees of subjectivity. External and arbitrary factors can influence physicians' diagnostic assessments in conditions ranging from heart attacks to...

This study examines the long-term effects of the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission's (RSC) hookworm eradication campaign, initiated in the American South in the 1910s, on old-age longevity. Utilizing Social Security Administration death records linked to the 1940 full-count census, we employ a...

Tax benefits tied to children form a central component of the social safety net in the United States. To participate in these programs, taxpayers must claim a child on their tax return. We study the claiming of children on tax returns by drawing on health insurance information returns to...

Mental health disorders are the leading cause of childhood disability worldwide. We examine the impact of a relatively common household stressor on child mental health: the presence of a younger sibling with a physical disability. Using Danish administrative data from families with at least 3...

Despite the widespread economic shocks faced by children in developing countries, the factors that contribute to resilience remain poorly understood. In this paper, we present three novel facts on the development of noncognitive skills using a longitudinal dataset from Ethiopia. First, we...

We estimate the effect of illicit drug use during pregnancy on low birth weight. We use data from a national longitudinal study of urban parents that includes post-partum interviews with mothers, hospital medical record data on the mother and newborn, extensive demographic information on both...