The Effect of Health and Poverty on Early Childhood Cognitive Development |
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Authors: | David M Welsch David M Zimmer |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin – Whitewater, Whitewater, WI, USA;(2) Department of Economics, Western Kentucky University, Grise Hall, Room 426, 1906 College Heights Blvd., Bowling Green, KY 42101, USA |
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Abstract: | Although evidence of a link between socioeconomic status and child health has been researched extensively, much less attention
has been devoted to studying the link between child health and cognitive development. This paper seeks to determine whether
early childhood illnesses and poverty significantly impede cognitive development. The empirical model attempts to control
for observed and unobserved heterogeneity through the use of panel data models. Results indicate that a child’s cognitive
development is not directly related to health problems acquired after birth or socioeconomic standing. Rather, cognitive development
is primarily influenced by unobserved child- and family-specific factors that happen to be correlated with health and socioeconomic
status. On the other hand, birth weight appears to affect cognitive performance later in childhood, even after taking unobserved
heterogeneity into account. |
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Keywords: | |
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