Growing up together: Cohort composition and child investment

Kelly Jones

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: In sub-Saharan Africa, 60 % of child deaths are preventable by investments in child health as simple as immunizations, bed nets, or water purification. This article investigates how a household’s decisions regarding such investments are affected by the size and gender composition of a child’s cohort. I focus on a previously overlooked type of investment: nonrival, child-specific goods (club goods). I empirically estimate the response of immunization status to cohort characteristics. I carefully address the problem of endogenous fertility, which is common in cohort studies. Because most rural Senegalese households are composed of multiple nuclear families, a child’s cohort is composed of both siblings and nonsibling children. Estimating within households, I instrument cohort characteristics with those of the nonsibling (exogenous) portion. I find that children with larger (or more predominantly male) cohorts of vaccine-eligible age are significantly more likely to receive immunization. These findings suggest that children with larger cohorts may be better off in terms of club investments; this is a significant finding for child health given that many illness prevention methods are of a club good nature.

Keywords: Family; size; Household; composition; Siblings; Human; capital; Club; goods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 J12 J13 O12 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr and nep-dem
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published in Demography 1.51(2014): pp. 229-255

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Related works:
Journal Article: Growing Up Together: Cohort Composition and Child Investment (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:55182

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