Mortality, Fertility and Child Labor

Shankha Chakraborty and Mausumi Das ()

University of Oregon Economics Department Working Papers from University of Oregon Economics Department

Abstract: We discuss how child labor problems may persist in developing countries when adult mortality risks are endogenous. Children provide current consumption through child labor and future consumption via an informal social security arrangement. Poorer parents, unable to invest much in their health, face greater mortality risks and are inclined to send their children to work instead of investing in their human capital. Endogenous fertility decisions exacerbate the problem as parents substitute toward quantity investment in children.

Keywords: Fairness: child labor; fertility; mortality; education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J2 O1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 9
Date: 2003-12-01, Revised 2003-12-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-hea and nep-lab
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http://economics.uoregon.edu/papers/UO-2003-35_Chakraborty_Child_Labor.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Mortality, fertility, and child labor (2005)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ore:uoecwp:2003-35

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