Citation
Fletcher, Jason M. & Lehrer, Steven F. (2009). Using genetic lotteries within families to examine the causal impact of poor health on academic achievement. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series. vol. No. 15148Abstract
While there is a well-established, large positive correlation between mental and physical health and education outcomes, establishing a causal link remains a substantial challenge. Building on findings from the biomedical literature, we exploit specific differences in the genetic code between siblings within the same family to estimate the causal impact of several poor health conditions on academic outcomes. We present evidence of large impacts of poor mental health on academic achievement. Further, our estimates suggest that family fixed effects estimators by themselves cannot fully account for the endogeneity of poor health. Finally, our sensitivity analysis suggests that these differences in specific portions of the genetic code have good statistical properties and that our results are robust to reasonable violations of the exclusion restriction assumption.URL
http://www.nber.org/papers/w15148Notes
Author contact info: Jason Fletcher University of Wisconsin-Madison La Follette School of Public Affairs 1225 Observatory Drive Madison, WI 53706 E-Mail: jfletcher@lafollette.wisc.edu Steven F. Lehrer School of Policy Studies and Department of Economics Queen's University Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 CANADA Fax: 613/533-2135 E-Mail: lehrers@queensu.caReference Type
Journal ArticleJournal Title
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper SeriesAuthor(s)
Fletcher, Jason M.Lehrer, Steven F.