Self-productivity and complementarities in human development : evidence from MARS

This paper investigates the role of self-productivity and home resources in capability formation from infancy to adolescence. In addition, we study the complementarities between basic cognitive, motor and noncognitive abilities and social as well as academic achievement. Our data are taken from the Mannheim Study of Children at Risk (MARS), an epidemiological cohort study following the long-term outcome of early risk factors. Results indicate that initial risk conditions cumulate and that differences in basic abilities increase during development. Self-productivity rises in the developmental process and complementarities are evident. Noncognitive abilities promote cognitive abilities and social achievement. There is remarkable stability in the distribution of the economic and socio-emotional home resources during the early life cycle. This is presumably a major reason for the evolution of inequality in human development

Orphans at Risk in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence on Educational and Health Outcomes

In this paper, we examine how orphanhood affects children’s educational and health outcomes in eleven sub-Saharan African countries. Our analysis is based on a comparison of orphans and non-orphaned children living under the same conditions. We also examine the impacts of various family structures and compare social orphans (non-orphaned children not living with a biological parent) to orphans. Using household fixed-effects estimation, we provide evidence that children not living with a biological parent lag behind in education and are more often malnourished and stunted. Educational gaps are particularly evident among orphans and social orphans not living with a mother. The effect of paternal death or absence is rather modest in most countries