tailieunhanh - The Effects of Migration on Child Health in Mexico

These are two dramatically different exercises. In recent decades much work in the public health field has focused on the first, on identifying the primary causes of poor health, including their prevalence and distribution, and on developing an evidence-based understanding of the interventions that will work to addresses those causes. There is broad consensus on the methodology for evaluating evidence of the efficacy of interventions. The randomized controlled trial is widely accepted as the “gold standard,” though multiple other techniques are necessarily used to produce valuable evidence that is considered. | Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized WPS3573 The Effects of Migration on Child Health in Mexico Nicole Hildebrandt and David J. McKenzie Department of Economics Stanford University Abstract This paper investigates the impact of international migration on child health outcomes in rural Mexico using a nationally representative demographic survey. Historic migration networks are employed as instruments for current household migration to the United States in order to correct for the possible endogeneity of migrant status. Children in migrant households are found to have lower rates of infant mortality and higher birthweights. We study the channels through which migration may affect health outcomes and find evidence that migration raises health knowledge in addition to the direct effect on wealth. However we also find that preventative health care such as breastfeeding and vaccinations is less likely for children in migrant households. These results provide a broader and more nuanced view of the health consequences of migration than is offered by the existing literature. Keywords migration child health infant mortality health knowledge JEL codes O15 I12 F22 World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3573 April 2005 The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings interpretations and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the view of the World Bank its Executive Directors or the countries they represent. Policy Research Working Papers are available online at http . Thanks to Gerardo Esquivel Ernesto Schargrodsky Miguel Urquiola and participants at the Economia meeting in