Empirical evidence on three assertions commonly-made by populationpolicy advocates about the relationships among population growth, humancapital formation and economic development is discussed and evaluated inthe light of economic-biological models of household behavior and of itsrelevance to...

In this paper, we describe and utilize methods to estimate theconsequences for children's schooling and birthweight of the exogenousvariability in the supply of births in one low income country, Malaysia. Themethod utilizes information on contraceptive techniques employed by couples toestimate...

In this paper we assess the importance of heterogeneity and selectivefertility in altering estimates and interpretations of the determinants ofthe human capital of children. We set out a sequential model of humancapital investments in children incorporating endogenous fertility andheterogeneity...

The livelihoods of the majority of the world's poor depend on agriculture. They face substantial risk from fluctuations in weather conditions. Better risk, credit and savings markets can improve productivity and welfare in rural areas but entail high administrative costs. We consider a classic...

Obesity is an important global health problem. Although obesity is not directly related to access to health care or constrained by resource deprivation, overweight status is predominantly found in poor, less-educated populations. This paper seeks to identify the causal role of schooling in...

In many countries of the world the co-residence of young adults aged 25-34 with their parents is not uncommon and in some countries the savings rates of these age groups exceed those of the middle-aged contrary to the standard model of life-cycle savings. In this paper we examine the role of...