This is about Economics! The following is an excerpt from the abstract of a rece

Question

This is about Economics!

The following is an excerpt from the abstract of a recent journal article entitled "The effects of maternal fasting during Ramadan on birth and adult outcomes" by Almond and Mazumder (2007). Ramadan is the traditional month of daytime fasting by Muslims. We use the Islamic holy month of Ramadan as a natural experiment for evaluating the short and long-term effects of fasting during pregnancy. Using Michigan natality data we show that in utero exposure to Ramadan among Arab births results in lower birthweight and reduced gestation length. Preconception exposure to Ramadan is also associated with fewer male births. Using Census data in Uganda we also find that Muslims who were born nine months after Ramadan are 22 percent (p = 0.02) more likely to be disabled as adults. Effects are found for vision, hearing, and especially for mental (or learning) disabilities. a Describe how one or more theories discussed in this chapter might explain the findings by Almond and Mazumder. Suppose that a scientific study determines that fasting during Ramadan actually has no causal effect on fetal health. What other factor could explain the Michigan results? Do you think your explanation is likely?

Explanation / Answer

Solution :

a) The correlation theory helps us to explain the findings by Almond and Mazumder . The exposure to Ramadan fasting and lower birthweights and reduced gestation lenght are correlated or there exists a relationship between fasting during the month of Ramadan and children born with lower birthweights , lower male births or more likely to be disabled as adults . This is corroborated by census data in Uganda where muslims born nine months after Ramadan were 22% more likely to be disabled as adults and also likely possibility of disablilities in vision , hearing , and mental disabilities .

b) Suppose a scientific study determines that fasting during Ramadan actually has no causal effect on fetal health then there could be other factors that could explain the Michigan results . Some of these factors include : -

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