Despite a central element of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the progress in making pregnancy and childbearing safer for women has been slow in many developing countries. Though Bangladesh has achieved commendable progress in reducing maternal mortality in recent decades, the country...

A cross sectional farm sample survey was conducted to assess the consequences of mastitis on farmer’s economy. Daily milk records of 187 animals from 28 farms were investigated by personal interview methods. Extra-resources used for the treatment and reduced revenues in terms of production...

We investigate the effect of an acute health shock on retirement among elderly male workers in Denmark, 1991-1999, and in particular whether various welfare state programs and institutions impinge on the retirement effect. The results show that an acute health event increases the retirement...

This paper provides evidence for the effectiveness of performance pay to government workers and how performance pay interacts with demand-side information. In an experiment covering 145 child day-care centres, I implement three separate treatments. First, I engineer an exogenous change in...

This paper provides evidence for spillovers in learning and behavior within urban slums in Chandigarh, India. In an experiment, mothers of children (aged 3-6 years) enrolled in government day-care centers were provided recipe books to lower their price per calorie. Theory suggests that if...

This paper explores the causal pathway by which poor fetal health translates into reducing educational attainment and earnings as an adult. Using insights from the medical literature, I decompose low birth weight infants into two distinct subtypes: a symmetric type, which is characterized by...

There has been a continuing growth in urbanisation in developing countries, and governments’ face a major challenge in ensuring that city dwellers are able to procure sufficient food. Street foods are sold in almost every country in the world. In most towns and cities in Ghana, selling of...

Obesity is epidemic in the U.S, and there is an imperative need to identify policy tools that may help fight this epidemic. A recent paper in the economics literature finds an inverse relationship between gasoline prices and obesity-risk --- suggesting that increased gasoline prices via higher...

Smoking is a leading cause for diseases and death. Information on factors affecting the smoking status is useful for policies on smoking reduction, especially in developing countries. This paper examines to what extent individuals’ characteristics can affect the smoking status using a...

This work examines the socio-economic determinants of body weight in the United Kingdom by means of two recent waves from the British Household Panel Survey. While the patterns of overweight and obesity have drawn economists’ interest in recent years, our main contribution is to examine the...