This paper examines the effects of high school curriculum reforms on infant health by exploiting sharp and staggered changes across states in core course requirements for graduation. Our results suggest that curriculum reforms significantly reduced the incidence of low birthweight and prematurity for black mothers. For white mothers, the estimated effects are small and generally insignificant. We also explore the mechanisms for observed effects and provide evidence consistent with our explanations. Finally, we calculate a large social gain induced by favorable infant health outcomes. Several robustness checks and different placebo tests support our findings.

We examine the impact of firearm violence on newborn health in the U.S. using two approaches. First, we analyze the “beltway sniper” attacks in 2002, leveraging both temporal and spatial variation to compare birth outcomes of exposed children to those unexposed. Second, we investigate in-utero exposure to mass shootings using national data. We find that exposure to these incidents during pregnancy increases the likelihood of very low-birthweight and very premature birth. These events carry a significant economic burden, with the beltway sniper attacks costing at least $155 million and mass shootings resulting in annual costs exceeding $75 million.