The impacts of rainfall shocks on birth weight in Vietnam

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the less discernible cost of rainfall shocks to birth weight outcomes in the context of Vietnam. Exploiting the variation across districts and conception months-years, we show that in-utero exposure to excessive and deficient rainfall shocks in the second trimester reduces child’s weight at birth by 3.5% (97 grams) and 3.1% (87 grams), respectively. Besides, infants born to poor, rural, and low-educated mothers are especially vulnerable. Since poor infant health can leave persistent effects over the life cycle, the study calls for more efforts in intervention measures to mitigate the impacts of rainfall shocks.

KEYWORDS:

• Rainfall
• birth weight
• intergenerational effects
• Vietnam

Acknowledgments

This research is funded by Ho Chi Minh City Open University under the grant number E2021.01.2

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research is funded by Ho Chi Minh City Open University under the grant number [E2021.01.2].

Notes on contributors

Kien Le

Kien Le: Assistant Professor, Ho Chi Minh City Open University (2020 - present); Ph.D. in Economics (Louisiana State University, 2020); Current research: development economics.

My Nguyen

My Nguyen: Assistant Professor, Ho Chi Minh City Open University (2020 - present); Ph.D. in Economics (Louisiana State University, 2020); Current research: health economics