Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/67172 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 6879
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Many developed countries have recently experienced sharp increases in home birth rates. This paper investigates the impact of home births on the health of low-risk newborns using data from the Netherlands, the only developed country where home births are widespread. To account for endogeneity in location of birth, we exploit the exogenous variation in distance from a mother's residence to the closest hospital. We find that giving birth in a hospital leads to substantial reductions in newborn mortality. We provide suggestive evidence that proximity to medical technologies may be an important channel contributing to these health gains.
Subjects: 
medical technology
birth
home birth
mortality
JEL: 
I11
I12
I18
J13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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