Family policy, intrahousehold bargaining, and child health

in Review of Development Economics (2023)

This study examines the effects of an exogenous change in family policy in Ethiopia on women empowerment and the allocation of resources toward child health. Empowerment is formalized as an unobserved ... [more ▼]

This study examines the effects of an exogenous change in family policy in Ethiopia on women empowerment and the allocation of resources toward child health. Empowerment is formalized as an unobserved latent variable based on a large set of questions pertaining to women's autonomy and decision-making power. Exploiting the time and regional variation in the implementation of the law, the study finds that early implementation of the reform increases women's access to information, literacy and education levels, and their assertiveness toward family planning and domestic violence. In addition, more decision power in the hands of women is found to have a positive impact on investments in the health and nutrition of children. The findings suggest that factors that do not enter the individual's preferences may affect outcomes for individuals and emphasize the role of intrahousehold heterogeneity. The results are robust to a battery of validity and specification checks. [less ▲]

A machine learning approach to predict self‑protecting behaviors during the early wave of the COVID‑19 pandemic

in Scientific Reports (2023), 13

Using a unique harmonized real‐time data set from the COME‑HERE longitudinal survey that covers five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden) and applying a non‑parametric machine ... [more ▼]

Using a unique harmonized real‐time data set from the COME‑HERE longitudinal survey that covers five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden) and applying a non‑parametric machine learning model, this paper identifies the main individual and macro‑level predictors of self‑protecting behaviors against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) during the first wave of the pandemic. Exploiting the interpretability of a Random Forest algorithm via Shapely values, we find that a higher regional incidence of COVID‑19 triggers higher levels of self‑protective behavior, as does a stricter government policy response. The level of individual knowledge about the pandemic, confidence in institutions, and population density also ranks high among the factors that predict self‑protecting behaviors. We also identify a steep socioeconomic gradient with lower levels of self‑protecting behaviors being associated with lower income and poor housing conditions. Among socio‑demographic factors, gender, marital status, age, and region of residence are the main determinants of self‑protective measures. [less ▲]

Characteristics associated with COVID‑19 vaccine hesitancy

in Scientific Reports (2022)

Understanding what lies behind actual COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is fundamental to help policy makers increase vaccination rates and reach herd immunity. We use June 2021 data from the COME-HERE survey to ... [more ▼]

Understanding what lies behind actual COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is fundamental to help policy makers increase vaccination rates and reach herd immunity. We use June 2021 data from the COME-HERE survey to explore the predictors of actual vaccine hesitancy in France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Sweden. We estimate a linear-probability model with a rich set of covariates and address issues of common-method variance. 13% of our sample say they do not plan to be vaccinated. Post-Secondary education, home-ownership, having an underlying health condition, and one standard-deviation higher age or income are all associated with lower vaccine hesitancy of 2–4.5% points. Conservative-leaning political attitudes and a one standard-deviation lower degree of confidence in the government increase this probability by 3 and 6% points respectively. Vaccine hesitancy in Spain and Sweden is significantly lower than in the other countries. [less ▲]

The Socioeconomic gradient in child health and noncognitive skills: Evidence from the Czech Republic

in Economics and Human Biology (2021)

We investigate the presence of a socioeconomic status (SES) gradient in children's health and noncognitive skill development, and its evolution with child age using cohort data from the Czech Republic. We ... [more ▼]

We investigate the presence of a socioeconomic status (SES) gradient in children's health and noncognitive skill development, and its evolution with child age using cohort data from the Czech Republic. We show that family SES are positively associated with better child health. These effects start to emerge at age 3 and are persistent for all subsequent ages. We find a modest strengthening of the gradient as the children grow older. Similarly, at the lowest distribution of average family income, children lag in their noncognitive skills. We find evidence that children enter school with substantial differences in noncognitive skill endowments based on family SES. This correlation persists when controlling for poor health at birth, the roles of specific and chronic health problems, housing conditions, and partner characteristics. Maternal health status explains some of the association between family income and child noncognitive skills. We account for the endogeniety of SES and non-linearities in measures. [less ▲]

It's a Family Affair: Family Health Shocks and Child Well-Being

in Willems, Helmut Erich; Samuel, Robin; Vögele, Claus (Eds.) et al Well-being and health-related behavior of adolescents. Disciplinary concepts, empirical findings, international perspectives, and practical approaches (working title) (2021)