Florencia Torche, Associate Professor, New York University
Prenatal Exposure to Local Violence and Birth Outcomes in Mexico
Abstract: This study examines the effect of maternal exposure to local homicides on birth outcomes in Mexico. We create a monthly panel by merging all births in Mexico from 2008 to 2010 with homicide data at the municipality level. Findings from fixed effects models indicate that exposure to homicides does not reduce fertility and may induce slight positive socioeconomic selectivity of women conceiving. Net of socioeconomic selectivity, exposure to homicides in the first trimester of gestation increasesmean birth weight and reduces the proportion of low birth weight. The mechanism driving this surprising effect appears to be an increase in health-enhancing behaviors of mothers as a result of the exposure to violence. We discuss implications for the understanding of the influence of prenatal exposures on later outcomes throughout the life-cycle.
Florencia Torche is an Associate Professor of Sociology at NYU, Faculty Affiliate at the Steinhardt School of Education, and Research Affiliate at INSPIRES, NYU School of Medicine. Her scholarship examines inequality dynamics — how inequality persists over the life course and across generations. She has examined inequality of educational opportunity, intergenerational mobility, wealth disparities, assortative mating, and the early emergence of disadvantage — starting as early as in the prenatal period. Much of Dr. Torche’s research uses an international comparative perspective. She has conducted several surveys, including the first survey of social mobility in Chile and in Mexico. Her research has been funded by the Ford Foundation, the Spencer foundation, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), among others.