Effects of health insurance on birth weight in Mexico

Abstract

This paper estimates the effect of mother's insurance coverage on neonatal outcomes in Mexico using hospital-based administrative data. Using an instrumental variable approach to identify the causal effects of health insurance on infant health, we find that mother's insurance coverage has positive impacts on neonatal outcomes. Children born to insured mothers weighed 108 g higher and had reduced probability of low birth weight by 7.5 percentage points. These effects appear to be stronger for mothers with higher levels of education and in municipalities with a higher development index. Findings indicate that expanding insurance coverage could be helpful in improving neonatal outcomes in resource-constrained countries.

Keywords: Mexico; birth weight; health insurance; infants.