Monkey see, monkey do: How do parental socioeconomic shifts influence children’s cognitive outcomes? Jaimee Stuart ^ , Gail Pacheco # , Mary Hedges * , and Susan Morton * ^ Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand. * Centre for Longitudinal Research, University of Auckland, New Zealand. # Corresponding author, Department of Economics, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand. DRAFT MANUSCRIPT: NOT FOR QUOTATION OR CITATION WITHOUT PERMISSION OF AUTHORS. Abstract With an Aberdeen birth cohort, this study examined the impact of perinatal determinants and socioeconomic status (SES) on childhood cognitive development. Via temporal measures of both SES and cognitive ability, we investigated the role of SES at birth and a change in SES during early childhood on two outcomes: (i) Cognitive ability at age 7, and (ii) Trajectory of that ability from ages 7 to 11. We employed standard econometric methodology and showcase the value of latent growth curve models, which have received minimal attention in health economics literature. Results showed that perinatal determinants, such as mother’s age, parity, and gestational age, significantly explained cognitive development by age 7 and its trajectory to age 11. Importantly, there is clear evidence that SES at birth significantly impacts children’s cognitive outcomes, and this impact is amplified for those who rank in the bottom half of the cognitive ladder by age 7. Keywords: childhood cognition; socioeconomic mobility JEL classification: I1; J10 The dataset in this paper was provided by the University of Aberdeen, Children of the 1950s steering group. For information on the data and details on how to obtain anonymized samples from this cohort, see http://www.abdn.ac.uk/childrenofthe1950s/index.shtml. This research was funded by Gravida: National Centre for Growth and Development, as part of the International Healthy Start to Life Project. We also acknowledge helpful feedback from the World Universities Network meeting in Leeds. 1