Economics Research Community Seminar – Mazhar Waseem

Title: Long-Run Impacts of In-Utero Ramadan Exposure: Evidence from Administrative Tax Records
Date: 19 October 2022
Time: 13:00-14:00
Location: NUBS 4.06

Guest Speaker: Mazhar Waseem is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Manchester. His research is primarily focused on Public Finance issues of emerging economies. He is interested in understanding the behavior of economic agents to tax and transfer policies with a view to learn how the design of these policies, especially in weak enforcement environments, can be improved.

If you would like to attend, please register using the following link: https://forms.office.com/r/QPWhxzazMH.

Abstract
Using Ramadan fasting as a natural experiment, we estimate the long-run impacts of in-utero health and nutrition shocks on adult outcomes. We exploit administrative tax return data comprising the universe of income tax returns filed in Pakistan during 2007–2009. The data allow us to link in-utero Ramadan exposure of individuals with their later life labor market outcomes. We find a robust negative effect of Ramadan exposure on earnings (a lower-bound estimate of around 2–3 percent). The exposed individuals are less likely to be in high-skilled occupations and less likely to be in the top of the income distribution. Using nationally representative survey data we show that our results are unlikely to be driven by selective timing of conception.