Essays in Development Economics
Abstract
This dissertation is divided into three independent chapters. In the first two chapters of this dissertation, I focus on issues relating to children. In Chapter One, I examine the effects of current and past climate-related disasters on children’s health in Indonesia. My findings show that current disasters in Indonesia reduce children’s weight, while past disasters reduce their height and increase their likelihood of stunting. Moreover, I find that the increase in the incidence of diarrhea and respiratory illnesses along with reductions in protein intake drive these findings. In Chapter Two, I investigate whether parenting practices differ by a child’s functional disability status using nationally-representative data. Based on the literature, it is unclear how children’s disabilities are correlated with parenting practices, and the existing evidence is inconclusive. My findings show that having a disability in early childhood is associated with a lower probability of receiving adequate parenting. The last chapter is different because it investigates the impact of a policy change in Indonesia that affected school-aged children’s future marital and fertility decisions. Specifically, the work examines the long-term impact of longer schooling in Indonesia on marriage behaviors. The findings show that staying longer in school raises the age at first marriage, but it does not affect the probability of marrying early and the ideal number of children. We also find differential impacts among men, women, and individuals residing in rural areas.
Subject Area
Economics|Labor economics
Recommended Citation
Yap, Jaclyn, "Essays in Development Economics" (2023). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI30635281.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI30635281
