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by Tadishi Yamada Tetsuji Yamada Frank Chaloupka National
Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. The model presented in
this paper emphasizes the importance of the mother's nutritional intake
as a determinant of infant health. Using cross-sectional market averages
for 1980 and 1981 in Japan, we find that the nutrient intake of the mother
during pregnancy is a potential determinant of neonatal and infant mortality
in Japan, with increased consumption of calcium and iron leading to improved
birth outcomes. Using the results obtained from the estimation of neonatal
and infant mortality production functions, we note that increases in the
prices of food items, in particular milk and meat, would lead to increases
in neonatal and infant mortality rates. We discover that the availability
of abortion in Japan, unlike the U.S., is positively related to mortality
rates, although never significantly. Finally, we see that cigarette smoking,
alcohol consumption, and poor environmental quality all have strongly
adverse effects on newborn survival outcomes in Japan.
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