Dias Pereira, R., Rietveld, N. and van Kippersluis, H. (2025). The Interplay between Maternal Smoking and Genes in Offspring Birth Weight Journal of Human Resources, 60(2):400--433.
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Affiliated authors
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Publication year2025
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JournalJournal of Human Resources
It is well-established that birth weight is affected by the child{\textquoteright}s genetic endowments and maternal smoking during pregnancy. Here, we investigate whether an interaction between genetic endowments and maternal smoking on birth weight exists. We instrument the maternal smoking decision with a genetic variant (rs1051730) located in the nicotine receptor gene CHRNA3 and deal with the underreporting of maternal smoking by using a biomarker of nicotine collected during pregnancy. We confirm that genetic endowments and maternal smoking negatively affect the child{\textquoteright}s birth weight. However, we do not find evidence of meaningful interactions between genetic endowments and maternal smoking.