Brother Sun, Sister Moon: The Lunar Cycle, Sunspots and the Frequency of Births

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1 RUHR ECONOMIC PAPERS Thomas K. Bauer Stefan Bender Jörg Heining Christoph M. Schmidt Brother Sun, Sister Moon: The Lunar Cycle, Sunspots and the Frequency of Births #225

2 Imprint Ruhr Economic Papers Published by Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), Department of Economics Universitätsstr. 150, Bochum, Germany Technische Universität Dortmund, Department of Economic and Social Sciences Vogelpothsweg 87, Dortmund, Germany Universität Duisburg-Essen, Department of Economics Universitätsstr. 12, Essen, Germany Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI) Hohenzollernstr. 1-3, Essen, Germany Editors Prof. Dr. Thomas K. Bauer RUB, Department of Economics, Empirical Economics Phone: +49 (0) 234/ , Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Leininger Technische Universität Dortmund, Department of Economic and Social Sciences Economics Microeconomics Phone: +49 (0) 231/ , Prof. Dr. Volker Clausen University of Duisburg-Essen, Department of Economics International Economics Phone: +49 (0) 201/ , Prof. Dr. Christoph M. Schmidt RWI, Phone: +49 (0) 201/ , Editorial Offi ce Joachim Schmidt RWI, Phone: +49 (0) 201/ , Ruhr Economic Papers #225 Responsible Editor: Thomas K. Bauer All rights reserved. Bochum, Dortmund, Duisburg, Essen, Germany, 2010 ISSN (online) ISBN The working papers published in the Series constitute work in progress circulated to stimulate discussion and critical comments. Views expressed represent exclusively the authors own opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors.

3 Ruhr Economic Papers #225 Thomas K. Bauer, Stefan Bender, Jörg Heining, and Christoph M. Schmidt Brother Sun, Sister Moon: The Lunar Cycle, Sunspots and the Frequency of Births

4 Bibliografische Informationen der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über: abrufbar. ISSN (online) ISBN

5 Thomas K. Bauer, Stefan Bender, Jörg Heining, and Christoph M. Schmidt 1 Brother Sun, Sister Moon: The Lunar Cycle, Sunspots and the Frequency of Births Abstract Based on multivariate linear regression models, we analyze the effect of the lunar cycle and the number of sunspots occurring on a particular day on the number of births using social security data and controlling for a number of other potential confounders. The daily number of births between 1920 and 1989 have been calculated from the full sample of individuals who have been registered at least once in the German social security system. While the lunar cycle does not affect the number of births, the number of sunspots has a positive, albeit small effect on the number of births which is decreasing over time. The empirical results may be explained by medical technological progress making natural influences on births less important over time. This interpretation is supported by the results on the intertemporal influence of weekends and holidays on the frequency of daily births. JEL Classification: I12, J13 Keywords: Daily frequency of births; lunar cycle; sunspots November Thomas K. Bauer, RWI, Ruhr-Universität Bochum and IZA, Bonn; Stefan Bender, IAB Nürnberg; Jörg Heining, IAB Nürnberg; Christoph M. Schmidt, RWI, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, IZA, Bonn, and CEPR London. We thank Christina Grabinger at the IAB for her support in the preparation of the data. All correspondence to Thomas K. Bauer, RWI, Hohenzollernstr. 1-3, Essen, Germany, thomas.bauer@rwi-essen.de.

6 Introduction Data and Methods 4

7 Figure 1: 01/01/ /01/ /01/ /01/ /01/ /01/ /01/ /01/1990 Number of sunspots Year Figure 2: 01/01/ /01/ /01/ /01/ /01/ /01/ /01/ /01/1990 Number of births Year 5

8 Results 6

9 Figure 3: Logarithm of Number of Births New Moon First Quarter Full Moon Last Quarter Figure 4: Logarithm of Number of Births Number of Sunspots (in 100) 7

10 Table 1: Moonphases Weekdays Holidays 8

11 Discussion 9

12 10

13 References Abell, George O. and Greenspan, Bennett.. Arliss, Jill M., Kaplan, Erin N. and Galvin, Shelley L.. Cesario, S. K.. Joshi, R., et al. Primary Care Update for OB/GYNS. Marks, J, Church, C. K. and Benrubi, G.. Morton-Pradhan, Susan, Bay, Curtis R. and Coonrod, Dean V.. Nalepka, Claire D., Jones, Susan L. and Jones, Paul K. Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing. Witter, F. R.. Bhattacharjee, Chanchal, et al. BMJ. Chapman, Simon and Morrell, Stephen. BMJ. Thakur, C. P. and Sharma, Dilip.BMJ. Payne, S. R., et al. BMJ. Randall, Walter. Biological Rhythm Research Biological Rhythm Research. Lowell, Walter E. and Davis Jr., George E.. 11

14 Bender, Stefan, Haas, Anette and Klose, Christoph.IAB Employment Subsample opportunities for analysis provided by the anonymised subsample. Gnevyshev, M. N.Solar Physics. MacFarlane, A. BMJ. Mitchell, Michael N.A Visual Guide to Stata Graphics. 12