We examine the effect of quasi-experimental variation in the availability of the emergency contraceptive (“morning after”) pill in Chile. Using censal data on all births and fetal deaths over the period 2005-2011 we show that the availability of the pill reduces pregnancy and early gestation fetal death, which we argue proxies for illegal abortion. These effects are particularly pronounced among teenagers and young women: point estimates suggest a 6.9% reduction in teenage pregnancy and 4.2% reduction for 20-34 year olds. We suggest that diffusion of the morning after pill between quasi treatment and control areas played an important role, and suggest a way to estimate unbiased treatment effects where the stable unit treatment value assumption does not hold locally. This paper is the first to provide censal evidence of the emergency contraceptive’s effect, and the first to examine the technology in a country where no other (legal) post-coital fertility control options exist.
Presented by:
Damian Clarke (University of Oxford)
Date & time:
October 22, 2014 11:00 am - October 22, 2014 12:00 pm
Internal seminars home