TY  - JOUR
AU  - Joyce,Theodore
AU  - Grossman,Michael
TI  - The Dynamic Relationship between Low Birthweight and Induced Abortion in New York City: An Aggregate Time-Series Analysis
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 3211
PY  - 1991
Y2  - February 1991
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3211
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3211.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Theodore J. Joyce
Baruch College & Graduate Center, CUNY
365 Fifth Ave, 5th Fl
New York, NY 10016-4309
Tel: 212/817-7960
Fax: 212/817-1597
E-Mail: theodore.joyce@baruch.cuny.edu

Michael Grossman
Ph.D. Program in Economics
City University of New York Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue, 5th Floor
New York, NY  10016-4309
Tel: 212/817-7959
Fax: 212/817-1597
E-Mail: mgrossman@gc.cuny.edu
AB  - We use a vector autoregression to examine the dynamic relationship between the race-specific percentage of pregnancies terminated by induced abortion and the race-specific percentage of low-birthweight births in New York City. With monthly data beginning in 1972, we find that induced abortion explains low birthweight for blacks, but not for whites. There is no evidence of feedback from low birthweight to induced abortion. Simulations based on the model reveal that an unanticipated decrease in the percentage of pregnancies terminated by induced abortion results in an increase in the rate of low-birthweight births among blacks. The findings suggest that restrictions on legalized abortion in New York City would worsen birth outcomes among blacks. 
ER  -