TY  - JOUR
AU  - Joyce,Theodore
AU  - Racine,Andrew D.
AU  - Mocan,Naci
TI  - The Consequences and Costs of Maternal Substance Abuse in New York City
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 3987
PY  - 1993
Y2  - March 1993
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3987
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3987.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

Andrew D. Racine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine Children's Hos
Division of General Pediatrics
1621 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10461
Tel: 718/405-8092
Fax: 212/817-1597
E-Mail: aracine@montefiore.org

Naci H. Mocan
Department of Economics
Louisiana State University
2119 Patrick F. Taylor Hall
Baton Rouge, LA 70803-6306
Tel: 225/578-4570
E-Mail: mocan@lsu.edu
M2  - featured in NBER digest on 1992-06-01
AB  - We use a pooled time-series cross-section of live births in New York City between 1980 and 1989 to investigate the dramatic rise in low birthweight, especially among Blacks, that occurred in the mid 1980s. After controlling for other risk factors, we estimate that the number of excess low birthweight births attributable to illicit substance abuse over this period ranged from approximately 1,900 to 3,800 resulting in excess neonatal admission costs of between $22 and $53 million. We conclude that illicit substance use was a major contributory factor in rapid rise of low birthweight among Blacks in New York City in the latter part of the 1980s. The impact of prenatal illicit substance use on Whites and Hispanics is less conclusive.
ER  -