We use the Islamic holy month of Ramadan as a natural experiment in fasting and fetal health. In Michigan births 1989 …-2006, we and prenatal exposure to Ramadan among Arab mothers results in lower birthweight and reduced gestation length …, suggesting that avoiding Ramadan exposure during pregnancy is costly or the long-term effects of fasting unknown. …

's counterfactual work behavior. We show that extending parental leave has significant positive effects on children's health and human … provided by mothers (or formal institutions) is superior to informal care-arrangements. …

overall improvement in the health at birth (as measured by the low birth weight indicator) of the cohorts exposed to the shock …. Moreover, we find significant improvements in health at birth exclusively for boys and not for girls. This effect seems to be …-called culling theory hypothesizing that maternal exposure to significant stress early in gestation selects against male frail …

compared to the surrounding cohorts. The results indicate that investments in early-life health may have far reaching effects …

This paper interprets accidents occurring on the way to and from work as negative health shocks to identify the causal … effect of health on labor market outcomes. We argue that in our sample of exactly matched treated and control workers, these … health shocks are quasi-randomly assigned. A fixed-effects difference-in-differences approach estimates a negative and …

cause of death with parents' labour market outcomes, health outcomes, marital status, and subsequent fertility. We exploit …

We estimate the causal effects of parental incarceration on children's short- and long-run out-comes using … employment. The effects are concentrated among children from the most disadvantaged families, where criminal convictions increase … 29 percentage points. In contrast, there are no detectable effects among children from more advantaged families. These …

instrument is supported by a host of validity tests. This strategy also enables us to predict mothers' abilities. Our results …

intermediate outcomes such as mothers' subsequent earnÿ­ings, child health, parental fertility, divorce rates, or the mothers …' mental health. Overall the results suggest positive causal interaction effects between mothers' education and the amount of … time mothers spend with their children. Since the institutional context is one in which the alternative is subsidized day …