Essays in Applied Microeconomics

<p>The essays in applied microeconomics contained within this dissertation examine prices in the developing economy contexts of Indonesia and the Philippines. Prices, observed and unobserved, are determined by and incentivize the behavior of all agents in the economy. Prices describe the interaction of individuals within a household and households within a market and reveal traits critical for development. Traits such as the efficiency of household resource allocations and the completeness of markets are analyzed in Central Java, Indonesia using a rich, longitudinal survey containing detailed price data used to estimate household demand systems. Unobserved, implicit prices of environmental goods are analyzed in the context of the Philippines. The valuation of environmental quality's implicit price is illustrated by comparing the health and human capital outcomes of the highly and least exposed. Exposure to environmental toxins can produce short and long-term damages to health and human capital reflecting undervaluation of the implicit price of environmental quality. The combined results of these essays on prices in development economics reveal allocation inefficiencies within the household and the economy and provide direction for development policy around the world.</p>Dissertatio

Lifetime economic impact of the burden of childhood stunting attributable to maternal psychosocial risk factors in 137 low/middle-income countries

The first 1000 days of life is a period of great potential and vulnerability. In particular, physical growth of children can be affected by the lack of access to basic needs as well as psychosocial factors, such as maternal depression. The objectives of the present study are to: (1) quantify the burden of childhood stunting in low/middle-income countries attributable to psychosocial risk factors; and (2) estimate the related lifetime economic costs.; A comparative risk assessment analysis was performed with data from 137 low/middle-income countries throughout Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, North Africa and the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa. The proportion of stunting prevalence, defined as &lt;-2 SDs from the median height for age according to the WHO Child Growth Standards, and the number of cases attributable to low maternal education, intimate partner violence (IPV), maternal depression and orphanhood were calculated. The joint effect of psychosocial risk factors on stunting was estimated. The economic impact, as reflected in the total future income losses per birth cohort, was examined.; Approximately 7.2 million cases of stunting in low/middle-income countries were attributable to psychosocial factors. The leading risk factor was maternal depression with 3.2 million cases attributable. Maternal depression also demonstrated the greatest economic cost at $14.5 billion, followed by low maternal education ($10.0 billion) and IPV ($8.5 billion). The joint cost of these risk factors was$29.3 billion per birth cohort.; The cost of neglecting these psychosocial risk factors is significant. Improving access to formal secondary school education for girls may offset the risk of maternal depression, IPV and orphanhood. Focusing on maternal depression may play a key role in reducing the burden of stunting. Overall, addressing psychosocial factors among perinatal women can have a significant impact on child growth and well-being in the developing world

Utilization and quality: How the quality of care influences demand for obstetric care in Nigeria.

This paper examines the association between health facility quality, subjective perceptions, and utilization of obstetric care. We draw on unique survey data from Nigeria describing the quality of care at rural primary health care facilities and the utilization of obstetric care by households in the service areas of these facilities. Constructing a quality index using the detailed survey data, we show that facility quality is positively related to perceptions of quality and utilization. Disaggregating quality into structural, process and outcome dimensions, we find a consistently strong relationship only between utilization and structural measures of quality. The results suggest that efforts to improve quality may involve a trade-off between investing in dimensions that are more easily observed by households, which will influence utilization, and investing in dimensions that are more closely related to outcomes

A Review of Alternative Methods to Inventory Contracted Services in the Department of Defense

Title 10, Section 2330a, of the U.S. Code requires the Secretary of Defense to "submit to Congress an annual inventory of the activities performed during the preceding fiscal year pursuant to contracts for services."Persistent concerns regarding both the methods for collecting these data in the Inventory of Contracted Services (ICS) and the utility of the data led the conferees for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 to direct the Secretary of Defense to examine the approach that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is taking to comply with this statutory requirement. Congress directed the Secretary of Defense, as part of this examination, to determine whether the ICS produced by the DoD enhances oversight of contracting activities and to submit a report to the congressional defense committees explaining the results of that examination, outlining efforts to better manage contractor and civilian personnel costs within the DoD, and outlining potential alternative methods of meeting ICS requirements. To assist the Secretary of Defense in making this determination, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs asked the RAND Corporation to conduct the mandated research. This final report builds on an interim report delivered in advance of the March 1, 2016, deadline for reporting to Congress. It should be of interest to policymakers concerned with DoD purchases of services as well as to DoD officials charged with ensuring better oversight of purchased services. This research was sponsored by the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs and conducted within the Forces and Resources Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense Intelligence Community. For more information on the RAND Forces and Resources Policy Center, see www.rand.org/nsrd/ndri/centers/frp.html or contact the director (contact information is provided on the webpage).Naval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research Progra

Summary Statistics.

<p>* Height was available for the full sample at both age 2 and age 5 in the NFBC1986. Height was measured on a subsample of the BCS1970 cohort at age 2 and the full sample at age 5. The main analyses used height at age 2 z-score for both the NFBC1986 and the CLHNS and used the average of height at ages 2 and 5 z-scores for the BCS1970. These summary statistics reflect that same specification.</p><p>Summary Statistics.</p

Cohort Data Description.

<p>*—Height was available at both age 2 and age 5 in the NFBC1986. Height was measured on a subsample of the BCS1970 cohort at age 2 and the full sample at age 5. The main analyses used height at age 2 z-score for both the NFBC1986 and the CLHNS and used the average of height at ages 2 and 5 z-scores for the BCS1970. Alternative specifications using height at age 5 z-score and the mean of the z-scores for height at ages 2 and 5 in the NFBC1986 were also assessed and the results do not differ substantially.</p><p>Cohort Data Description.</p

Height for age z-score and early life cognitive development.

<p>The shape of the relationship between height for age z-score and early life cognitive development in each of the 3 cohorts, including 95% confidence intervals.</p

Physical and Cognitive Early Life Development and Educational Attainment.

<p>Notes: Baseline regressions included gender fixed effects. Minimal adjustment regressions also included socio-economic information including mother's and father's years of education, and father's social class by occupation (1–6: non-manual skilled—unemployed). Full adjustments also included low birth weight indicator, mother's height, number of previous pregnancies, age at childbirth, and smoking behavior during pregnancy. Regional indicators were included for each regression (baseline, min. adj., full adj.) of the BCS1970 and NFBC1986. Statistics shown in parentheses are 95% confidence intervals.</p><p>Physical and Cognitive Early Life Development and Educational Attainment.</p