Does the Poor’s Consumption of Calories Respond to Changes in Income? Evidence from Pakistan

This paper examines the relationship between income and calorie consumption for households in developing countries. Recent papers have questioned the strength of this relationship on the basis of several measurement problems that tend to overstate the responsiveness of calories consumption to income. The paper uses a household data set from Pakistan and estimates calories income elasticities for rural and urban households. The estimation takes into account the concerns raised by Behrman and Deolalikar (1987) and Bouis and Haddad (1992) about quality effects and unobservable variables. The paper finds that the elasticity is significantly different from zero. Furthermore, the relationship appears to be different according to households’ incomes. Poor households’ responsiveness of calories intake to changes in income is greater than that of the entire sample. These results are consistent with the conventional wisdom that existed before the recent criticisms.

Does the Poor’s Consumption of Calories Respond to Changes in Income? Evidence from Pakistan

This paper examines the relationship between income and calorie consumption for households in developing countries. Recent papers have questioned the strength of this relationship on the basis of several measurement problems that tend to overstate the responsiveness of calories consumption to income. The paper uses a household data set from Pakistan and estimates calories income elasticities for rural and urban households. The estimation takes into account the concerns raised by Behrman and Deolalikar (1987) and Bouis and Haddad (1992) about quality effects and unobservable variables. The paper finds that the elasticity is significantly different from zero. Furthermore, the relationship appears to be different according to households’ incomes. Poor households’ responsiveness of calories intake to changes in income is greater than that of the entire sample. These results are consistent with the conventional wisdom that existed before the recent criticisms

EDUCATION AND SMOKING: WERE VIETNAM WAR DRAFT AVOIDERS ALSO MORE LIKELY TO AVOID SMOKING?

We use the Vietnam War draft avoidance behavior documented by Card and Lemieux (2001) as a quasi-natural experiment to infer causation from education to smoking and find strong evidence that education, whether measured in years of completed schooling or in educational attainment categories, reduces the probability of smoking at the time of the interview, more particularly the probability of smoking regularly. However, while we find that more education substantially increases the probability of never smoking, there is little evidence that it helps people stop smoking, although the estimates are fairly imprecise. Potential mechanisms linking education and smoking are also explored.

LONG TERM EFFECTS OF CIVIL CONFLICT ON WOMEN'S HEALTH OUTCOMES IN PERU

We investigate the long term effects of Peru's internal conflict on women's outcomes. According to Peru's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR), the conflict was responsible for over 69,000 deaths and disappearances from 1980-2000 and between 500,000 to 1 million internally displaced persons. This conflict affected households' ability to generate income because of the death or disappearance of income earners and loss of productive assets. Using data from Peru's Demographic and Health Surveys and district-level conflict data published by the CVR, we find long-term effects of the conflict on some indicators of women's health, particularly on height and anemia.

Education and Smoking: Were Vietnam War Draft Avoiders Also More Likely to Avoid Smoking?

We use the Vietnam War draft avoidance behavior documented by Card and Lemieux (2002) as a quasi-natural experiment to infer causation from education to smoking and find strong evidence that education, whether it be measured in years of completed schooling or in educational attainment categories, reduces the probability of smoking at the time of the interview, more particularly the probability of smoking regularly. Interestingly, however, while we find that more education substantially increases the probability of never smoking, our other main finding is suggestive that increased education has a limited impact on smoking cessation behavior. On the one hand there is little evidence that it helps to increase the probability of not smoking regularly at the time of the interview, conditional on having smoked regularly at any time. However, among former regular smokers, those with more education have significantly shorter smoking careers.

HEALTH, AGING AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN MEXICO

We investigate the long-term effect of childhood and adult socio-economic conditions on the health of the elderly in Mexico. We utilize a panel of individuals aged 50 and above from the Mexican Health and Aging Survey to examine whether the transition from good health in 2001 to good health in 2003 is affected by the conisions under which the individual lived at the age of 10, accounting for education and income. We find that socio-economic conditions affect the health of the elderly in Mexico. Individuals with higher levels of income and from higher childhood socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to remain in good health, conditional on their health in 2001. Our paper contributes to the literature of the long-term effects of socio-economic status by considering the case of the elderly in a developing country.

Education and Smoking: Were Vietnam War Draft Avoiders Also More Likely to Avoid Smoking?

We use the Vietnam War draft avoidance behavior documented by Card et Lemieux (2002) as a quasi-natural experiment to infer causation from education to smoking and find strong evidence that education, whether it be measured in years of completed schooling or in educational attainment categories, reduces the probability of smoking at the time of the interview, more particularly the probability of smoking regularly. Interestingly, however, while we find that more education substantially increases the probability of never smoking, our other main finding is suggestive that increased education has a limited impact on smoking cessation behavior. On the one hand there is little evidence that it helps to increase the probability of not smoking regularly at the time of the interview, conditional on having smoked regularly at any time. However, among former regular smokers, those with more education have significantly shorter smoking careers. Nous utilisons la propension des hommes nés aux États-Unis dans les années '40 à vouloir éviter d'être recrutés pour participer à la guerre du Vietnam en poursuivant leurs études post-secondaires, tel que documenté dans Card et Lemieux (2002), afin d'inférer le lien causal entre l'éducation et le tabagisme. Nos résultats indiquent que les individus ayant davantage d'éducation sont nettement moins susceptibles de fumer la cigarette au moment de l'entrevue, particulièrement en ce qui concerne le fait de fumer régulièrement. Toutefois, l'impact de l'éducation sur le fait de cesser de fumer semble plutôt modeste. D'une part, il n'y a pas d'évidence très forte à l'effet qu'une augmentation exogène de l'éducation accroisse la probabilité de ne pas fumer au moment de l'entrevue, conditionnellement au fait d'avoir fumé régulièrement à un moment donnée dans sa vie. D'autre part, parmi les anciens fumeurs réguliers, nous trouvons que le nombre d'années passées à fumer est moindre pour ceux qui ont davantage d'éducation.cigarette smoking, education, Vietnam War, draft avoidance, instrumental variables., tabagisme, éducation, guerre du Vietnam, variables instrumentales

Services industry and its potential for youth and women employment in an African context : a review of the literature

The evidence from macro productivity models drawn from the African Sector Database (ASD) suggest African countries underwent a structural transformation towards services activities that were not technologically dynamic. Performance of the agricultural sector is found to significantly influence the rate of job growth in the rest of the economy. As such, the service sector is dependent on agricultural productivity growth for employment growth. Likewise, the diversification of the work force is linked to economic transformation. This paper provides a critical review of available literature on sectorial employment in African countries and assesses the impact of services sector employment on youth and women

Tropical Forests and Shifting Cultivation: Secondary Forest Fallow Dynamics Among Traditional Farmers of the Peruvian Amazon

Abstract Tropical secondary forests created by swidden-fallow agriculture cover extensive areas in the humid tropics and yield significant ecological and economic benefits, yet forest fallowing behaviour among swidden cultivators remains poorly understood. This paper reports on a study of forest fallow management among Amazonian peasant farmers in a traditional, riverside community near Iquitos, Peru. Data were gathered through in-depth household interviews (n = 36) on farming practices, demographic characteristics, kinship relations and family history, income-expenditures and household wealth. Field visits and interviews allowed the reconstruction of forest fallow histories (n= 593 fields) for the period of 1950-1994. These histories were combined with information on household land holding and demographic composition, over time, and incorporated into a panel data set for analysis of fallow dynamics at the plot and household level. Our analyses indicate marked variations among households in the area, number and age of fallow holdings through time. Tobit regressions suggest that households with better access to land and to both in-house (male) and communal labour hold more land in secondary forest fallow with longer fallow periods. Over time, as primary forest lands around the community became increasingly scarce, households increased their holdings of forest fallow but reduced the fallow length. Duration analyses at the plot level indicate that fallow length is influenced primarily by the type of prior crop, field size, and household access to labour as well as primary forest. Land poorer households have significantly shorter forest fallows than better-off households. Our findings point to the importance of intra-community variations in non-market mediated access to land and labour and their implications for secondary forest fallow management among traditional peoples in tropical rain forest regions

Impact of DOTS expansion on tuberculosis related outcomes and costs in Haiti

BACKGROUND: Implementation of the World Health Organization's DOTS strategy (Directly Observed Treatment Short-course therapy) can result in significant reduction in tuberculosis incidence. We estimated potential costs and benefits of DOTS expansion in Haiti from the government, and societal perspectives. METHODS: Using decision analysis incorporating multiple Markov processes (Markov modelling), we compared expected tuberculosis morbidity, mortality and costs in Haiti with DOTS expansion to reach all of the country, and achieve WHO benchmarks, or if the current situation did not change. Probabilities of tuberculosis related outcomes were derived from the published literature. Government health expenditures, patient and family costs were measured in direct surveys in Haiti and expressed in 2003 US$. RESULTS: Starting in 2003, DOTS expansion in Haiti is anticipated to cost$4.2 million and result in 63,080 fewer tuberculosis cases, 53,120 fewer tuberculosis deaths, and net societal savings of $131 million, over 20 years. Current government spending for tuberculosis is high, relative to the per capita income, and would be only slightly lower with DOTS. Societal savings would begin within 4 years, and would be substantial in all scenarios considered, including higher HIV seroprevalence or drug resistance, unchanged incidence following DOTS expansion, or doubling of initial and ongoing costs for DOTS expansion. CONCLUSION: A modest investment for DOTS expansion in Haiti would provide considerable humanitarian benefit by reducing tuberculosis-related morbidity, mortality and costs for patients and their families. These benefits, together with projected minimal Haitian government savings, argue strongly for donor support for DOTS expansion