Where have all the young men gone? Using sex ratios to measure fetal death rates

Nicholas J Sanders; Charles Stoecker

doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2014.12.005

Where have all the young men gone? Using sex ratios to measure fetal death rates

J Health Econ. 2015 May:41:30-45. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2014.12.005. Epub 2015 Jan 10.

Authors

Nicholas J Sanders¹, Charles Stoecker²

Affiliations

¹ College of William & Mary, Department of Economics, United States.
² Tulane University, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, United States. Electronic address: cfstoecker@tulane.edu.

PMID: 25655338
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2014.12.005

Abstract

Fetal health is an important consideration in policy formation. Unfortunately, a complete census of fetal deaths, an important measure of overall fetal health, is infeasible, and available data are selectively observed. We consider this issue in the context of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970 (CAAA), one of the largest and most influential environmental regulations in the history of the United States. We discuss a model of potential bias in measuring observed fetal deaths, and present the sex ratio of live births as an alternative fetal health endpoint, taking advantage of the finding that males are more vulnerable to side effects of maternal stress in utero. We find the CAAA caused substantial improvements in fetal health, in addition to previously identified reductions in post-natal mortality.

Keywords: Environmental health; Environmental policy; Fetal and maternal health; Regression discontinuity; Sex ratios.

MeSH terms

Algorithms
Bias*
Fetal Death*
Humans
Male
Models, Theoretical*
Sex Ratio
United States