CHE Seminar Series: Born Too Soon? Policy-Induced Birth Timing and Child Development
We examine the impact of policy-induced changes in birth timing on children’s health and educational outcomes. We exploit a natural experiment in Spain: the abrupt termination of a generous child benefit at the end of 2010, which led to a sharp increase in elective deliveries during the final week of December. Children born during this spike had shorter gestation periods and lower birth-weight (within the normal range), and experienced a higher incidence of respiratory disorders during infancy. We find that the affected cohort of children had significantly lower school performance at age seven, suggesting large persistent effects on cognitive development.
Speaker profile
Libertad González is a Professor of Economics at Universitat Pompeu Fabra and the Barcelona School of Economics, specialising in labor, public, and gender economics. She holds a PhD in Economics from Northwestern University. She has published in leading peer-reviewed journals such as the Economic Journal, the Journal of the European Economic Association, the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, the Journal of Labor Economics, the Journal of Public Economics, the Journal of Human Resources, and the Journal of Health Economics. Her research accumulates more than 4,000 citations in Google Scholar. She was awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant to study early-life interventions and child development. She served as President of the European Society for Population Economics (in 2023) and is currently vice-president of the Spanish Economic Association.
Weekly seminar series
As part of our Centre's vibrant research culture, we host a weekly seminar series. Visiting and invited researchers present current research relating to the economics of health and wellbeing, and the healthcare sector. Visitors are welcome to join these sessions where discussion and debate is encouraged.
For further information on our seminar series, please contact Trong-Anh.Trinh@monash.edu .
Event Details
- Date:
- 11 March 2026 at 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
- Venue:
- Caulfield campus, Building H, level 9, room H914
- Categories:
- CHE Seminar; General
Description
We examine the impact of policy-induced changes in birth timing on children’s health and educational outcomes. We exploit a natural experiment in Spain: the abrupt termination of a generous child benefit at the end of 2010, which led to a sharp increase in elective deliveries during the final week of December. Children born during this spike had shorter gestation periods and lower birth-weight (within the normal range), and experienced a higher incidence of respiratory disorders during infancy. We find that the affected cohort of children had significantly lower school performance at age seven, suggesting large persistent effects on cognitive development.
Speaker profile
Libertad González is a Professor of Economics at Universitat Pompeu Fabra and the Barcelona School of Economics, specialising in labor, public, and gender economics. She holds a PhD in Economics from Northwestern University. She has published in leading peer-reviewed journals such as the Economic Journal, the Journal of the European Economic Association, the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, the Journal of Labor Economics, the Journal of Public Economics, the Journal of Human Resources, and the Journal of Health Economics. Her research accumulates more than 4,000 citations in Google Scholar. She was awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant to study early-life interventions and child development. She served as President of the European Society for Population Economics (in 2023) and is currently vice-president of the Spanish Economic Association.
Weekly seminar series
As part of our Centre's vibrant research culture, we host a weekly seminar series. Visiting and invited researchers present current research relating to the economics of health and wellbeing, and the healthcare sector. Visitors are welcome to join these sessions where discussion and debate is encouraged.
For further information on our seminar series, please contact Trong-Anh.Trinh@monash.edu .