Abstract
Left- and right-handed individuals have different brain structures, particularly in relation to language processing. Using five data sets from the US and UK, I show that poor infant health increases the likelihood of a child being left-handed. I argue that handedness can thus be used to explore the long-run impacts of differential brain structure generated in part by poor infant health. Even conditional on infant health and family background, lefties exhibit economically and statistically significant human capital deficits relative to righties. Compared to righties, lefties score a tenth of a standard deviation lower on measures of cognitive skill and, contrary to popular wisdom, are not over-represented at the high end of the distribution. Lefties have more emotional and behavioral problems, have more learning disabilities such as dyslexia, complete less schooling, and work in less cognitively intensive occupations. Differences between left- and right-handed siblings are similar in magnitude. Most strikingly, lefties have six percent lower annual earnings than righties, a gap that can largely be explained by these differences in cognitive skill, disabilities, schooling and occupational choice. Lefties work in more manually intensive occupations than do righties, further suggesting that lefties’ primary labor market disadvantage is cognitive rather than physical. Those likely be left-handed due to genetics show smaller or no deficits relative to righties, suggesting the importance of environmental shocks as the source of disadvantage. Handedness provides parents and schools a costlessly observable characteristic with which to identify young children whose cognitive and behavioral development may warrant additional attention.
Highlights
The Book of Judges records the story of Ehud, ”‘a left-handed man”’ with ”‘a double-edged sword... which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing.”’ Before Ehud entered the chambers of the oppressive king Eglon, the king’s guards frisked only his left thigh, where a righthanded warrior would normally place his sword in order to draw it
I argue that handedness can be used to explore the long-run impacts of differential brain structure generated in part by poor infant health
Studies have found that higher maternal age and lower birthweight are both associated with higher prevalence of left-handedness (Medland et al, 2008; Vuoksimaa et al, 2009). All of these are consistent with the theory that stressors during pregnancy or birth may contribute to the differential brain structures typical of left-handed individuals
Summary
The Book of Judges records the story of Ehud, ”‘a left-handed man”’ with ”‘a double-edged sword... which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing.”’ Before Ehud entered the chambers of the oppressive king Eglon, the king’s guards frisked only his left thigh, where a righthanded warrior would normally place his sword in order to draw it . During the Middle Ages, left-handed writers were thought to be possessed by the Devil, generating the modern sense of the word ”‘sinister”’ from (sinistra), the Latin word for ”‘left.”’1 Sinistrality, or left-handedness, does have modern proponents who argue that lefties are more likely to be creative superstars than righties. Lefties work in more manually intensive occupations than do righties, further suggesting that lefties’ primary labor market disadvantage is cognitive rather than physical Those likely be left-handed due to genetics show smaller or no deficits relative to righties, suggesting the importance of environmental shocks as the source of disadvantage. Handedness deserves more attention from economists than it has previously received
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.