A large body of evidence documents the educational and labour market returns to
birth weight, which are reflected in investments in large social safety net programmes
targeting birth weight and early life health. However, there is no direct evidence on
the private valuation of birth weight. In this paper, we estimate the willingness ...
A large body of evidence documents the educational and labour market returns to
birth weight, which are reflected in investments in large social safety net programmes
targeting birth weight and early life health. However, there is no direct evidence on
the private valuation of birth weight. In this paper, we estimate the willingness to
pay for birth weight in the United States, using a series of discrete choice
experiments. Within the normal birth weight range (2,500–4,000 g), we find that
individuals are, on average, willing to pay $1.47 (95% CI: [$1.24, $1.70]) for each
additional gram of birth weight when the value of birth weight is estimated linearly,
or $2.40 (95% CI: [$2.03, $2.77]) when the value of birth weight is estimated nonparametrically.
