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The Role of Maternal Cognitive Ability in Child Health

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  • Luis Rubalcava
  • Graciela Teruel
Abstract
The literature on child health suggests mother`s schooling is a key determinant of child health. Little is known of how other sources of maternal human capital contribute to her children`s health. This paper investigates the differential returns on child health of three sources of maternal human capital: schooling, cognitive ability and childhood background. Conditional on schooling and mother`s height, we first analyze the effect of maternal cognitive ability on her children`s health. Next, we relax the assumption of mother`s schooling and reasoning ability as predetermined variables and study the extent to which both returns reflect observed mother`s childhood endowments. We conclude by investigating the importance of mother`s schooling and cognitive ability in enhancing her offspring`s health during first-time motherhood. Results show maternal cognitive ability is an important factor in improving her children`s health. We find these returns robust to the inclusion of mother`s observed childhood endowments. However, estimates of mother`s schooling drop by 30 percent when we control for these variables. This suggests that unlike mother`s schooling, maternal returns to cognitive ability on child health are less likely to reflect mother`s childhood background. Finally, we find maternal reasoning ability to be an important factor in improving her children`s health in first-time motherhood. Our analysis is based on information gathered in the Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS-1), which administered Raven`s Colored Progressive Matrices, and collected anthropometric outcomes. Our results focus on child height-for-age (0-17 years) z-scores as long-run health outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Luis Rubalcava & Graciela Teruel, 2004. "The Role of Maternal Cognitive Ability in Child Health," Research Department Publications 3192, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    • Handle: RePEc:idb:wpaper:3192
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    Cited by:

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    2. Mayer-Foulkes, David, 2008. "The Human Development Trap in Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 775-796, May.
    3. Behrman, Jere R., 2010. "Investment in Education Inputs and Incentives," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4883-4975, Elsevier.
    4. Behrman, Jere R. & Skoufias, Emmanuel, 2004. "Correlates and determinants of child anthropometrics in Latin America: background and overview of the symposium," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 335-351, December.
    5. Steckel, Richard H., 2009. "Heights and human welfare: Recent developments and new directions," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 1-23, January.
    6. Sadegh Eshaghnia & James J. Heckman, 2023. "Intergenerational Transmission of Inequality: Maternal Endowments, Investments, and Birth Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 31761, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Emmanuel Skoufias, 2012. "The Poverty and Welfare Impacts of Climate Change Quantifying the Effects, Identifying the Adaptation Strategies," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 9384.
    8. Atheendar S. Venkataramani, 2011. "The intergenerational transmission of height: evidence from rural Vietnam," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(12), pages 1448-1467, December.
    9. Mayer Foulkes, David & Lopez Olivo, Maria Fernanda & Servan Mori, Edson, 2008. "Habilidades Cognitivas: Transmision Intergeneracional Por Niveles Socioeconomicos [Cognitive Abilities: Intergenerational Transmission by Socioeconomic Levels]," MPRA Paper 7180, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Shen, Menghan, 2018. "The effects of school desegregation on infant health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 104-118.
    11. de Mel, Suresh & McKenzie, David & Woodruff, Christopher, 2008. "Who Are the Microenterprise Owners? Evidence from Sri Lanka on Tokman v. de Soto," IZA Discussion Papers 3511, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Eliseo Hernández-Ruiz, 2016. "Intervención temprana: una apuesta para la movilidad social," Working Paper Series Sobre México 2016001, Sobre México. Temas en economía.
    13. Skoufias, Emmanuel & Vinha, Katja, 2012. "Climate variability and child height in rural Mexico," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 54-73.
    14. Suresh de Mel & David McKenzie & Christopher Woodruff, 2010. "Who are the Microenterprise Owners? Evidence from Sri Lanka on Tokman versus De Soto," NBER Chapters, in: International Differences in Entrepreneurship, pages 63-87, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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