This paper examines the causal links between early human endowments and socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood. We use a genotyped longitudinal survey (Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study) that is linked to the administrative registers of Statistics Finland. We focus on the effect of birth weight on income via two anthropometric mediators: body mass index (BMI) and height in adulthood. We find that (i) the genetic instruments for birth weight, adult height, and adult BMI are statistically powerful; (ii) there is a robust total effect of birth weight on income for men but not for women; (iii) the total effect of birth weight on income for men is partly mediated via height but not via BMI; and (iv) the share of the total effect mediated via height is substantial, of approximately 56%.

中文翻译：

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出生体重和成人收入：通过成人身高和体重的中介检查

本文研究了早期人类禀赋与成年后社会经济成果之间的因果关系。我们使用与芬兰统计局行政登记册相关的基因分型纵向调查（青年芬兰人研究中的心血管风险）。我们通过两个人体测量介质关注出生体重对收入的影响：体重指数 (BMI) 和成年身高。我们发现 (i) 出生体重、成人身高和成人 BMI 的遗传工具在统计上是强大的；(ii) 出生体重对男性收入的总体影响很大，但对女性则不然；(iii) 出生体重对男性收入的总体影响部分是通过身高而不是 BMI 来调节的；(iv) 通过高度介导的总效应的份额很大，约为 56%。