Growing up together: Cohort composition and child investment

In sub-Saharan Africa, 60 % of child deaths are preventable by investments in child health as simple as immunizations, bed nets, or water purification. This article investigates how a household’s decisions regarding such investments are affected by the size and gender composition of a child’s cohort...

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Autor principal: Jones, Kelly M.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Duke University Press 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149489
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author Jones, Kelly M.
author_browse Jones, Kelly M.
author_facet Jones, Kelly M.
author_sort Jones, Kelly M.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description In sub-Saharan Africa, 60 % of child deaths are preventable by investments in child health as simple as immunizations, bed nets, or water purification. This article investigates how a household’s decisions regarding such investments are affected by the size and gender composition of a child’s cohort. I focus on a previously overlooked type of investment: nonrival, child-specific goods (club goods). I empirically estimate the response of immunization status to cohort characteristics. I carefully address the problem of endogenous fertility, which is common in cohort studies. Because most rural Senegalese households are composed of multiple nuclear families, a child’s cohort is composed of both siblings and nonsibling children. Estimating within households, I instrument cohort characteristics with those of the nonsibling (exogenous) portion. I find that children with larger (or more predominantly male) cohorts of vaccine-eligible age are significantly more likely to receive immunization. These findings suggest that children with larger cohorts may be better off in terms of club investments; this is a significant finding for child health given that many illness prevention methods are of a club good nature.
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spelling CGSpace1494892024-10-25T07:58:12Z Growing up together: Cohort composition and child investment Jones, Kelly M. siblings human capital family size In sub-Saharan Africa, 60 % of child deaths are preventable by investments in child health as simple as immunizations, bed nets, or water purification. This article investigates how a household’s decisions regarding such investments are affected by the size and gender composition of a child’s cohort. I focus on a previously overlooked type of investment: nonrival, child-specific goods (club goods). I empirically estimate the response of immunization status to cohort characteristics. I carefully address the problem of endogenous fertility, which is common in cohort studies. Because most rural Senegalese households are composed of multiple nuclear families, a child’s cohort is composed of both siblings and nonsibling children. Estimating within households, I instrument cohort characteristics with those of the nonsibling (exogenous) portion. I find that children with larger (or more predominantly male) cohorts of vaccine-eligible age are significantly more likely to receive immunization. These findings suggest that children with larger cohorts may be better off in terms of club investments; this is a significant finding for child health given that many illness prevention methods are of a club good nature. 2014 2024-08-01T02:49:26Z 2024-08-01T02:49:26Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149489 en Open Access Duke University Press Jones, Kelly M. 2014. Growing up together: Cohort composition and child investment. Demography 51(1): 229-255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-013-0237-x
spellingShingle siblings
human capital
family size
Jones, Kelly M.
Growing up together: Cohort composition and child investment
title Growing up together: Cohort composition and child investment
title_full Growing up together: Cohort composition and child investment
title_fullStr Growing up together: Cohort composition and child investment
title_full_unstemmed Growing up together: Cohort composition and child investment
title_short Growing up together: Cohort composition and child investment
title_sort growing up together cohort composition and child investment
topic siblings
human capital
family size
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149489
work_keys_str_mv AT joneskellym growinguptogethercohortcompositionandchildinvestment