0000000000341309
AUTHOR
Douglas Almond
showing 2 related works from this author
Fasting During Pregnancy and Children's Academic Performance
2011
Conventionally studied educational interventions tend to be costly and may be subject to “fade out”. In contrast, experiences during the prenatal period can have large and persistent effects on academic performance, even when quite brief. In this paper, we consider a relatively mild and commonly-experienced prenatal exposure – that occasioned by daytime fasting during the lunar month of Ramadan. In register data from England, we find that test scores at age seven are approximately .05 to .08 standard deviations lower for Pakistani and Bangladeshi students exposed to Ramadan in early pregnancy. We argue these “intent to treat” estimates are downward biased relative to fasting’s effect due to…
In UteroRamadan Exposure and Children's Academic Performance
2014
A large literature has linked the in utero environment to health in adulthood. We consider how prenatal nutrition may shape human capital acquisition in childhood, utilising the month-long Ramadan fast as a natural experiment. In student register data for Pakistani and Bangladeshi families in England, we examine whether Ramadan's overlap with pregnancy affects subsequent academic outcomes at age 7. We find that test scores are 0.05-0.08 standard deviations lower for students exposed to Ramadan in early pregnancy. Our results suggest that brief prenatal investments may be more cost effective than traditional educational interventions in improving academic performance.