Does trade affect child health?

Frankel and Romer [Frankel, J., Romer, D., 1999. Does trade cause growth? American Economic Review 89 (3), 379-399] documented positive effects of geographically determined trade openness on economic growth. At the same time, critics fear that openness can lead to a “race to the bottom” that increases pollution and reduces government resources for investments in health and education. We use Frankel and Romer's gravity model of trade to examine how openness to trade affects children. Overall, we find little harm from trade, and potential benefits largely through slightly faster GDP growth.