CPRC

Past Research: Professor Currie has published widely on topics related to the effects of policy on child health and human capital development. All of her work involves secondary analyses of large, nationally representative data sets using sophisticated statistical techniques. One line of research examined the impact of expansions of the public health insurance to previously uncovered groups of pregnant women and children in the U.S. Since these expansions were phased in at very different rates in different states, it is possible to identify their effects. For example, she finds in her JPE paper that expansions to pregnant women reduced infant mortality, primarily through increasing in-hospital expenditures. In her QJE (1996) paper, she finds that expansions to children increased the probability that they received at least one doctor visit in a year but also increased hospitalizations. A second line of research has examined the impact of the Head Start program. In several studies that compare siblings who did and did not attend, she finds that while Head Start does not fully close the gap between disadvantaged and more advantaged children, it does have long-lasting and significant effects. A third area of research concerns the relationship between socioeconomic status and health. In her QJE (2003) paper, she showed that increases in maternal education are associated with openings of colleges, increased healthy prenatal behaviors and birth-weight. In her 2003 AER paper, she showed that the SES-health gradient becomes stronger as children age even in Canada, primarily because poor children suffer more health insults than richer ones. Much of this work is summarized in her 2006 book with Princeton University Press.

Present Research: Currie has a number of projects examining determinants of infant and child health, and the longer term effects of child health on children’s outcomes. In NIH-funded research, she is using Add Health data to examine the effect of child abuse on young adult outcomes. So far, she has found large and statistically significant effects of maltreatment in childhood on the probability of committing a wide range of crimes, even in models that compare identical twins. This work is closely related to continuing research on the long-term effects of child mental health problems. Currie also has NIH-funded research examining the effects of toxic releases and hazardous waste sites on infant health. This work is based on a data set she has constructed linking millions of individual-level vital statistics natality records from five states to data from the Environmental Protection Agency. Currie is also using the public-use natality records to examine the effect of state-level tort reforms on physician’s choice of procedure and on complications of labor and delivery.

Future Research: Currie is planning a project to use data from the Canadian Province of Manitoba to further examine the development of the SES gradient in child health as children age. The data set will involve records from the provincial health insurance system which include all contacts with doctors and hospitals, as well as information about prescriptions. This data has been linked to information from the educational system and the welfare system. Using these data, it will be possible to look at the types of health insults associated with deteriorating health among poor children, as well as the responses of the medical system. Currie is also working on a project examining the theoretical rationales for offering transfers to poor families in-kind rather than in cash. The project will attempt to integrate the theory with what is known from empirical research on this topic.

Professor Currie's Departmental Biography Page