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Roberta Gatti - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Child Labor and agricultural shocks
Journal of Development Economics, 2006Co-Authors: Kathleen Beegle, Rajeev H. Dehejia, Roberta GattiAbstract:This paper examines the relationship between household income shocks and Child Labor. In particular, we investigate the extent to which transitory income shocks lead to increases in Child Labor and whether household asset holdings mitigate the effects of these shocks. Using data from a household panel survey in Tanzania, we find that both relationships are significant. We investigate mechanisms that could account for these results, including buffer stocks and borrowing.
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why should we care about Child Labor the education Labor market and health consequences of Child Labor
Journal of Human Resources, 2005Co-Authors: Kathleen Beegle, Rajeev H. Dehejia, Roberta GattiAbstract:Although there is extensive literature on the determinants of Child Labor and many initiatives aimed at combating it, there is limited evidence on the consequences of Child Labor on socioeconomic outcomes such as education, wages, and health. The authors evaluate the causal effect of Child Labor participation on these outcomes using panel data from Vietnam and an instrumental variables strategy. Five years subsequent to the Child Labor experience, they find significant negative effects on school participation and educational attainment, but also find substantially higher earnings for those (young) adults who worked as Children. The authors find no significant effects on health. Over a longer horizon, they estimate that from age 30 onward the forgone earnings attributable to lost schooling exceed any earnings gain associated with Child Labor and that the net present discounted value of Child Labor is positive for discount rates of 11.5 percent or higher. The authors show that Child Labor is prevalent among households likely to have higher borrowing costs, that are farther from schools, and whose adult members experienced negative returns to their own education. This evidence suggests that reducing Child Labor will require facilitating access to credit and will also require households to be forward looking.
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why should we care about Child Labor the education Labor market and health consequences of Child Labor
National Bureau of Economic Research, 2004Co-Authors: Kathleen Beegle, Rajeev H. Dehejia, Roberta GattiAbstract:Although there is an extensive literature on the determinants of Child Labor and many initiatives aimed at combating it, there is limited evidence on the consequences of Child Labor on socio-economic outcomes such as education, wages, and health. We evaluate the causal effect of Child Labor participation on these outcomes using panel data from Vietnam and an instrumental variables strategy. Five years subsequent to the Child Labor experience, we find significant negative impacts on school participation and educational attainment, but also find substantially higher earnings for those (young) adults who worked as Children. We find no significant effects on health. Over a longer horizon, we estimate that from age 30 onward the forgone earnings attributable to lost schooling exceed any earnings gain associated with Child Labor and that the net present discounted value of Child Labor is positive for discount rates of 11.5 percent or higher. We show that Child Labor is prevalent among households likely to have higher borrowing costs, that are farther from schools, and whose adult members experienced negative returns to their own education. This evidence suggests that reducing Child Labor will require facilitating access to credit and will also require households to be forward looking.
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Child Labor income shocks and access to credit
2003Co-Authors: Kathleen Beegle, Rajeev H. Dehejia, Roberta GattiAbstract:Although a growing theoretical literature points to credit constraints as an important source of inefficiently high Child Labor, little work has been done to assess its empirical relevance. Using panel data from Tanzania, we find that households respond to transitory income shocks by increasing Child Labor, but that the extent to which Child Labor is used as a buffer is lower when households have access to credit. These findings contribute to the empirical literature on the permanent income hypothesis by showing that credit-constrained households actively use Child Labor to smooth their income. Moreover, they highlight a potentially important determinant of Child Labor and, as a result, a mechanism that can be used to tackle it.
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Child Labor, Income Shocks, and Access to Credit - Child Labor, income shocks, and access to credit
Policy Research Working Papers, 2003Co-Authors: Kathleen Beegle, Rajeev H. Dehejia, Roberta GattiAbstract:Although a growing theoretical literature points to credit constraints as an important source of inefficiently high Child Labor, little work has been done to assess its empirical relevance. Using panel data from Tanzania, we find that households respond to transitory income shocks by increasing Child Labor, but that the extent to which Child Labor is used as a buffer is lower when households have access to credit. These findings contribute to the empirical literature on the permanent income hypothesis by showing that credit-constrained households actively use Child Labor to smooth their income. Moreover, they highlight a potentially important determinant of Child Labor and, as a result, a mechanism that can be used to tackle it.
Kathleen Beegle - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Explaining variation in Child Labor statistics - Explaining variation in Child Labor statistics
Journal of Development Economics, 2012Co-Authors: Andrew Dillon, Elena Bardasi, Kathleen Beegle, Pieter SerneelsAbstract:Child Labor statistics are critical for assessing the extent and nature of Child Labor activities in developing countries. In practice, widespread variation exists in how Child Labor is measured. Questionnaire modules vary across countries and within countries over time along several dimensions, including respondent type and the structure of the questionnaire. Little is known about the effect of these differences on Child Labor statistics. This paper presents the results from a randomized survey experiment in Tanzania focusing on two survey aspects: different questionnaire design to classify Children work and proxy response versus self-reporting. Use of a short module compared with a more detailed questionnaire has a statistically significant effect, especially on Child Labor force participation rates, and, to a lesser extent, on working hours. Proxy reports do not differ significantly from a Childs self-report. Further analysis demonstrates that survey design choices affect the coefficient estimates of some determinants of Child Labor in a Child Labor supply equation. The results suggest that low-cost changes to questionnaire design to clarify the concept of work for respondents can improve the data collected.
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explaining variation in Child Labor statistics
Journal of Development Economics, 2010Co-Authors: Andrew Dillon, Elena Bardasi, Kathleen Beegle, Pieter SerneelsAbstract:Child Labor statistics are critical for assessing the extent and nature of Child Labor activities in developing countries. In practice, widespread variation exists in how Child Labor is measured. Questionnaire modules vary across countries and within countries over time along several dimensions, including respondent type and the structure of the questionnaire. Little is known about the effect of these differences on Child Labor statistics. This paper presents the results from a randomized survey experiment in Tanzania focusing on two survey aspects: different questionnaire design to classify Children work and proxy response versus self-reporting. Use of a short module compared with a more detailed questionnaire has a statistically significant effect, especially on Child Labor force participation rates, and, to a lesser extent, on working hours. Proxy reports do not differ significantly from a Childs self-report. Further analysis demonstrates that survey design choices affect the coefficient estimates of some determinants of Child Labor in a Child Labor supply equation. The results suggest that low-cost changes to questionnaire design to clarify the concept of work for respondents can improve the data collected.
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Child Labor and agricultural shocks
Journal of Development Economics, 2006Co-Authors: Kathleen Beegle, Rajeev H. Dehejia, Roberta GattiAbstract:This paper examines the relationship between household income shocks and Child Labor. In particular, we investigate the extent to which transitory income shocks lead to increases in Child Labor and whether household asset holdings mitigate the effects of these shocks. Using data from a household panel survey in Tanzania, we find that both relationships are significant. We investigate mechanisms that could account for these results, including buffer stocks and borrowing.
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why should we care about Child Labor the education Labor market and health consequences of Child Labor
Journal of Human Resources, 2005Co-Authors: Kathleen Beegle, Rajeev H. Dehejia, Roberta GattiAbstract:Although there is extensive literature on the determinants of Child Labor and many initiatives aimed at combating it, there is limited evidence on the consequences of Child Labor on socioeconomic outcomes such as education, wages, and health. The authors evaluate the causal effect of Child Labor participation on these outcomes using panel data from Vietnam and an instrumental variables strategy. Five years subsequent to the Child Labor experience, they find significant negative effects on school participation and educational attainment, but also find substantially higher earnings for those (young) adults who worked as Children. The authors find no significant effects on health. Over a longer horizon, they estimate that from age 30 onward the forgone earnings attributable to lost schooling exceed any earnings gain associated with Child Labor and that the net present discounted value of Child Labor is positive for discount rates of 11.5 percent or higher. The authors show that Child Labor is prevalent among households likely to have higher borrowing costs, that are farther from schools, and whose adult members experienced negative returns to their own education. This evidence suggests that reducing Child Labor will require facilitating access to credit and will also require households to be forward looking.
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why should we care about Child Labor the education Labor market and health consequences of Child Labor
National Bureau of Economic Research, 2004Co-Authors: Kathleen Beegle, Rajeev H. Dehejia, Roberta GattiAbstract:Although there is an extensive literature on the determinants of Child Labor and many initiatives aimed at combating it, there is limited evidence on the consequences of Child Labor on socio-economic outcomes such as education, wages, and health. We evaluate the causal effect of Child Labor participation on these outcomes using panel data from Vietnam and an instrumental variables strategy. Five years subsequent to the Child Labor experience, we find significant negative impacts on school participation and educational attainment, but also find substantially higher earnings for those (young) adults who worked as Children. We find no significant effects on health. Over a longer horizon, we estimate that from age 30 onward the forgone earnings attributable to lost schooling exceed any earnings gain associated with Child Labor and that the net present discounted value of Child Labor is positive for discount rates of 11.5 percent or higher. We show that Child Labor is prevalent among households likely to have higher borrowing costs, that are farther from schools, and whose adult members experienced negative returns to their own education. This evidence suggests that reducing Child Labor will require facilitating access to credit and will also require households to be forward looking.
Eric V. Edmonds - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Poverty Alleviation And Child Labor - Poverty Alleviation and Child Labor
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2012Co-Authors: Eric V. Edmonds, Norbert SchadyAbstract:Does Child Labor decrease as household income rises? This question has important implications for the design of policy on Child Labor. This paper focuses on a program of unconditional cash transfers in Ecuador. It argues that the effect of a small increase in household income on Child Labor should be concentrated among Children most vulnerable to transitioning from schooling to work. The paper finds support for this hypothesis. Cash transfers have small effects on Child time allocation at peak school attendance ages and among Children already out of school at baseline, but have large impacts at ages and in groups most likely to leave school and start work. Additional income is associated with a decline in paid work that takes place away from the Child's home. Declines in work for pay are associated with increases in school enrollment, especially for girls. Increases in schooling are matched by an increase in education expenditures that appears to absorb most of the cash transfer. However, total household expenditures do not increase with the transfer and appear to fall in households most impacted by the transfer because of the decline in Child Labor.
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poverty alleviation and Child Labor
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2008Co-Authors: Eric V. Edmonds, Norbert SchadyAbstract:Does Child Labor decrease as household income rises? This question has important implications for the design of policy on Child Labor. This paper focuses on a program of unconditional cash transfers in Ecuador. It argues that the effect of a small increase in household income on Child Labor should be concentrated among Children most vulnerable to transitioning from schooling to work. The paper finds support for this hypothesis. Cash transfers have small effects on Child time allocation at peak school attendance ages and among Children already out of school at baseline, but have large impacts at ages and in groups most likely to leave school and start work. Additional income is associated with a decline in paid work that takes place away from the Child's home. Declines in work for pay are associated with increases in school enrollment, especially for girls. Increases in schooling are matched by an increase in education expenditures that appears to absorb most of the cash transfer. However, total household expenditures do not increase with the transfer and appear to fall in households most impacted by the transfer because of the decline in Child Labor.
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Child Labor in the Global Economy
Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2005Co-Authors: Eric V. Edmonds, Nina PavcnikAbstract:Few issues in developing countries draw as much popular attention as Child Labor. This paper begins by quantifying the extent and main characteristics of Child Labor. It then considers the evidence on a range of issues about Child Labor. Fundamentally, Child Labor is a symptom of poverty. Low income and poor institutions are driving forces behind the prevalence of Child Labor worldwide. This study concludes by assessing the policy options to reduce worldwide Child Labor.
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The effect of trade liberalization on Child Labor
Journal of International Economics, 2005Co-Authors: Eric V. Edmonds, Nina PavcnikAbstract:Abstract The question of how trade liberalization affects the employment of Children in developing economies is at the core of the debate on globalization. Trade theory predicts that an increase in the price of an exported good could either increase or decrease Child Labor depending on the magnitudes of the substitution and income effects. In this paper, we study the relationship between changes in the relative price of an exported commodity and Child Labor using household-level data from within a poor country. In particular, we relate Child Labor to regional and intertemporal variation in the real price of rice surrounding national and international rice market integration in Vietnam. We find that higher rice prices are associated with declines in Child Labor. Income effects play an important role in this relationship. Rice price increases are associated with the largest declines in Child Labor in households that are large net producers of rice. These findings show that greater market integration can be associated with less Child Labor. Moreover, our results suggest that the use of punitive trade sanctions on exports from developing countries to eradicate Child Labor is unlikely to yield the desired outcome.
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international trade and Child Labor cross country evidence
National Bureau of Economic Research, 2004Co-Authors: Eric V. Edmonds, Nina PavcnikAbstract:We explore the relationship between greater exposure to trade (as measured by openness) and Child Labor in a cross country setting. Our methodology accounts for the fact that trade flows are endogenous to Child Labor (and Labor standards more generally) by examining the relationship between Child Labor and variation in trade based on geography. We find that countries that trade more have less Child Labor. At the cross-country means, the data suggest an openness elasticity of Child Labor of -0.7. For low-income countries, the elasticity of Child Labor with respect to trade with high income countries is -0.9. However, these relationships appear to be largely attributable to the positive association between trade and income. When we control for the endogeneity of trade and for cross-country income differences, the openness elasticity of Child Labor at cross-country means is much smaller (-0.1) and statistically insignificant. We consistently find a negative but statistically insignificant association between openness and Child Labor conditional on cross-country income differences when we split the sample into different country groups, consider only trade between high and low income countries, or focus on exports of unskilled-Labor intensive products from low income countries. Thus, the cross-country data do not substantiate assertions that trade per se plays a significant role in perpetuating the high levels of Child Labor that pervade low-income countries.
Kenneth A. Swinnerton - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Inequality, Productivity and Child Labor: Theory and Evidence
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000Co-Authors: Kenneth A. Swinnerton, Carol Ann RogersAbstract:A recent theoretical literature has linked reductions in income inequality to reductions in Child Labor in countries that are relatively well-off, but has not explored how income distribution affects Child Labor in very poor countries. We show that while in higher-productivity countries with Child Labor, a more equal income distribution will reduce or eliminate Child Labor, in low productivity countries, a more equal distribution of income will exacerbate Child Labor. Econometric specifications studying Child Labor among 10- to-14 year olds yield results generally consistent with these predictions. Policy actions that aim to bring about more equality so as to reduce Child Labor will likely not have the desired effect unless a country in which they are taken is sufficiently wealthy.
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the economics of Child Labor comment
The American Economic Review, 1999Co-Authors: Carol Ann Rogers, Kenneth A. SwinnertonAbstract:In a recent paper, Kaushik Basu and Pham Hoang Van (BV, 1998) develop an important and very interesting model in which a fairly productive economy exhibits multiple equilibria, with Children working in at least one. They identify two assumptions as essential to this result. The first - - which they call the "luxury axiom" - - is that a family sends its Children to the Labor market only if its income from sources other than Child Labor is very low. The second is embodied in their "substitution axiom" which states that from the point of view of firms, Child Labor is substitutable for adult Labor. In this comment, we show that in addition to these two assumptions about the micro-level behavior of households and firms, there is also an essential macro-level assumption that may be termed the "distribution axiom:" income or wealth from non-Labor sources must be sufficiently concentrated in the hands of a few agents. We establish that if non-Labor income is distributed with sufficient equality, a market equilibrium with Child Labor cannot exist in the BV model. Beyond their contribution as an extension of BV's theory, our results formalize a proposition implicit in recent policy discussions of Child Labor. Christiaan Grootaert and Ravi Kanbur (1995) note that as household-level poverty is well-known to be the major cause of Child Labor, "[g]eneral economic development, equitably distributed, is the best and most sustainable way of reducing Child Labor." (p. 198, emphasis added) Policy documents from the International Labor Organization (ILO) have long conveyed this view, and now the World Bank appears to as well (Peter Fallon and Zafiris Tzannatos, 1998). There is a growing recognition that while economic development and development policies are necessary to eliminating Child Labor, they are not always sufficient on their own. Distributional considerations matter. Indeed, in the case in which BV's model yields multiple equilibria, th(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)
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Inequality, Productivity, and Child Labor
Labor and Demography, 1999Co-Authors: Carol Ann Rogers, Kenneth A. SwinnertonAbstract:We extend the “general model” in Basu and Van (1998) to allow for different types of hosueholds, and extend the model in Swinnerton and Rogers (1999) to allow for a more general utility function. Our new findings are (i) while in some contexts, a more equal income distribution can reduce or eliminate Child Labor, in others, a more equal distribution of income can exacerbate Child Labor. (ii) In these latter contexts, increases in total factor productivity are particularly effective in reducing Child Labor. This work takes the literature a step closer towards informing decisions as to the conditions under which a country needs active financial assistance in addressing Child Labor, and also those under which political or moral suasion are feasible international policy approaches to eliminating Child Labor in a country.
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the economics of Child Labor comment
Labor and Demography, 1999Co-Authors: Kenneth A. Swinnerton, Carol Ann RogersAbstract:In a recent paper, Kaushik Basu and Pham Hoang Van (BV, 1998) develop an important and very interesting model in which a fairly productive economy exhibits multiple equilibria, with Children working in at least one. They identify two assumptions as essential to this result. The first - - which they call the "luxury axiom" - - is that a family sends its Children to the Labor market only if its income from sources other than Child Labor is very low. The second is embodied in their "substitution axiom" which states that from the point of view of firms, Child Labor is substitutable for adult Labor. In this comment, we show that in addition to these two assumptions about the micro-level behavior of households and firms, there is also an essential macro-level assumption that may be termed the "distribution axiom:" income or wealth from non-Labor sources must be sufficiently concentrated in the hands of a few agents. We establish that if non-Labor income is distributed with sufficient equality, a market equilibrium with Child Labor cannot exist in the BV model. Beyond their contribution as an extension of BV's theory, our results formalize a proposition implicit in recent policy discussions of Child Labor. Christiaan Grootaert and Ravi Kanbur (1995) note that as household-level poverty is well-known to be the major cause of Child Labor, "[g]eneral economic development, equitably distributed, is the best and most sustainable way of reducing Child Labor." (p. 198, emphasis added) Policy documents from the International Labor Organization (ILO) have long conveyed this view, and now the World Bank appears to as well (Peter Fallon and Zafiris Tzannatos, 1998). There is a growing recognition that while economic development and development policies are necessary to eliminating Child Labor, they are not always sufficient on their own. Distributional considerations matter. Indeed, in the case in which BV's model yields multiple equilibria, the economy is developed enough to eliminate Child Labor. In this comment it becomes clear that if Child Labor exists in this economy, the causes are purely distributional.
Norbert Schady - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Poverty Alleviation And Child Labor - Poverty Alleviation and Child Labor
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2012Co-Authors: Eric V. Edmonds, Norbert SchadyAbstract:Does Child Labor decrease as household income rises? This question has important implications for the design of policy on Child Labor. This paper focuses on a program of unconditional cash transfers in Ecuador. It argues that the effect of a small increase in household income on Child Labor should be concentrated among Children most vulnerable to transitioning from schooling to work. The paper finds support for this hypothesis. Cash transfers have small effects on Child time allocation at peak school attendance ages and among Children already out of school at baseline, but have large impacts at ages and in groups most likely to leave school and start work. Additional income is associated with a decline in paid work that takes place away from the Child's home. Declines in work for pay are associated with increases in school enrollment, especially for girls. Increases in schooling are matched by an increase in education expenditures that appears to absorb most of the cash transfer. However, total household expenditures do not increase with the transfer and appear to fall in households most impacted by the transfer because of the decline in Child Labor.
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poverty alleviation and Child Labor
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2008Co-Authors: Eric V. Edmonds, Norbert SchadyAbstract:Does Child Labor decrease as household income rises? This question has important implications for the design of policy on Child Labor. This paper focuses on a program of unconditional cash transfers in Ecuador. It argues that the effect of a small increase in household income on Child Labor should be concentrated among Children most vulnerable to transitioning from schooling to work. The paper finds support for this hypothesis. Cash transfers have small effects on Child time allocation at peak school attendance ages and among Children already out of school at baseline, but have large impacts at ages and in groups most likely to leave school and start work. Additional income is associated with a decline in paid work that takes place away from the Child's home. Declines in work for pay are associated with increases in school enrollment, especially for girls. Increases in schooling are matched by an increase in education expenditures that appears to absorb most of the cash transfer. However, total household expenditures do not increase with the transfer and appear to fall in households most impacted by the transfer because of the decline in Child Labor.