IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/asiaec/v20y2006i1p47-74.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Parental Education and Child Health: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Pushkar Maitra
  • Xiujian Peng
  • Yaer Zhuang

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of parental, household and community character‐istics on the health of children in China. We find that birth order, death of elder siblings, use of prenatal care and alcohol consumption by the mother when pregnant have statistically significant effects on the health of children. Although parental education does not have a significant direct effect on child health, it does affect mothers’ behavior during pregnancy and inflfluences the use of health inputs, indirectly impacting the health of children. The research findings have important implications for both family planning programs and broader social policies in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Pushkar Maitra & Xiujian Peng & Yaer Zhuang, 2006. "Parental Education and Child Health: Evidence from China," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 47-74, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:asiaec:v:20:y:2006:i:1:p:47-74
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8381.2006.00224.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8381.2006.00224.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-8381.2006.00224.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rosenzweig, Mark R. & Wolpin, Kenneth I., 1988. "Migration selectivity and the effects of public programs," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 265-289, December.
    2. John Strauss & Duncan Thomas, 1998. "Health, Nutrition, and Economic Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(2), pages 766-817, June.
    3. Horton, Susan, 1988. "Birth Order and Child Nutritional Status: Evidence from the Philippines," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(2), pages 341-354, January.
    4. Maitra, Pushkar, 2004. "Parental bargaining, health inputs and child mortality in India," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 259-291, March.
    5. Lata Gangadharan & Pushkar Maitra, 2000. "Does Child Mortality Reflect Gender Bias? Evidence from Pakistan," Indian Economic Review, Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 113-131, July.
    6. Behrman, Jere R., 1988. "Nutrition, health, birth order and seasonality : Intrahousehold allocation among children in rural India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 43-62, February.
    7. Michael J. Brien & Lee A. Lillard, 1994. "Education, Marriage, and First Conception in Malaysia," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 29(4), pages 1167-1204.
    8. Pushkar Maitra & Sarmistha Pal, 2004. "Early Childbirth, Health Inputs and Child Mortality: Recent Evidence from Bangladesh," HEW 0411004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Behrman, Jere R. & Deolalikar, Anil B., 1988. "Health and nutrition," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 14, pages 631-711, Elsevier.
    10. Paul Schultz, T., 2002. "Why Governments Should Invest More to Educate Girls," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 207-225, February.
    11. Nicole Mellington & Lisa Cameron, 1999. "Female Education and Child Mortality in Indonesia," Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(3), pages 115-144.
    12. Rosenzweig, Mark R & Wolpin, Kenneth I, 1986. "Evaluating the Effects of Optimally Distributed Public Programs: ChildHealth and Family Planning Interventions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(3), pages 470-482, June.
    13. Buor, Daniel, 2003. "Mothers' education and childhood mortality in Ghana," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 297-309, June.
    14. Sonalde Desai & Soumya Alva, 1998. "Maternal education and child health: Is there a strong causal relationship?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 35(1), pages 71-81, February.
    15. Bicego, George T. & Ties Boerma, J., 1993. "Maternal education and child survival: A comparative study of survey data from 17 countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 1207-1227, May.
    16. Gangadharan, L. & Maitra, P., 2000. "Gender and Child Mortality in Pakistan," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 763, The University of Melbourne.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Juliet Elu & Gregory Price, 2013. "Does Ethnicity Matter for Access to Childhoodand Adolescent Health Capital in China? Evidence from the Wage-Height Relationship in the 2006 China Health and Nutrition Survey," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 40(3), pages 315-339, September.
    2. Banister, Judith & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2005. "China, Economic Development and Mortality Decline," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 21-41, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pushkar Maitra & Sarmistha Pal, 2004. "Early Childbirth, Health Inputs and Child Mortality: Recent Evidence from Bangladesh," HEW 0411004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Armand Mboutchouang K. & Cédric Foyet K. & Cédrick Kalemasi M., 2023. "Child fostering and health nutritional outcomes of under-five: Evidence from Cameroon," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 23/008, African Governance and Development Institute..
    3. Headey, Derek D. & Hoddinott, John F., 2014. "Understanding the rapid reduction of undernutrition in Nepal, 2001-2011:," IFPRI discussion papers 1384, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Armand Mboutchouang K. & Cédric Foyet K. & Cédrick Kalemasi M., 2023. "Child fostering and health nutritional outcomes of under-five: Evidence from Cameroon," Working Papers 23/008, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    5. Pushkar Maitra & Sarmistha Pal, 2004. "Birth Spacing and Child Survival: Comparative Evidence from India and Pakistan," Labor and Demography 0403023, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Headey, Derek D., 2014. "An analysis of trends and determinants of child undernutrition in Ethiopia, 2000‐2011:," ESSP working papers 70, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Lindelow, Magnus, 2004. "Health care decisions as a family matter - intra-household education externalities and the utilization of health services," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3324, The World Bank.
    8. Chen, Yuyu & Li, Hongbin, 2009. "Mother's education and child health: Is there a nurturing effect?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 413-426, March.
    9. Armand Mboutchouang K. & Cédric Foyet K. & Cédrick Kalemasi M., 2023. "Child fostering and health nutritional outcomes of under-five: Evidence from Cameroon," Working Papers of The Association for Promoting Women in Research and Development in Africa (ASPROWORDA). 23/003, The Association for Promoting Women in Research and Development in Africa (ASPROWORDA).
    10. Anoshua Chaudhuri, 2005. "Direct and Indirect Effects of a Maternal and Child Health Program in Rural Bangladesh," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 21(1-2), pages 143-173, June.
    11. Harold Alderman & John Hoddinott & Bill Kinsey, 2006. "Long term consequences of early childhood malnutrition," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 58(3), pages 450-474, July.
    12. Murat G. Kırdar & Meltem Dayıoğlu & İsmet Koç, 2016. "Does Longer Compulsory Education Equalize Schooling by Gender and Rural/Urban Residence?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 30(3), pages 549-579.
    13. Orazem, Peter F. & King, Elizabeth M., 2008. "Schooling in Developing Countries: The Roles of Supply, Demand and Government Policy," Handbook of Development Economics, in: T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 55, pages 3475-3559, Elsevier.
    14. Basu, Karna & Wong, Maisy, 2012. "Evaluating Seasonal Food Security Programs in East Indonesia," MPRA Paper 51219, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Jere R. Behrman, 1994. "Intra-family Distribution in Developing Countries," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 253-296.
    16. Pallavi Panda, 2020. "Selective Mortality and Malnutrition in India," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 18(4), pages 861-890, December.
    17. Headey, Derek & Hoddinott, John & Ali, Disha & Tesfaye, Roman & Dereje, Mekdim, 2015. "The Other Asian Enigma: Explaining the Rapid Reduction of Undernutrition in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 749-761.
    18. Rana Khan & Muhammad Raza, 2014. "Child malnutrition in developing economies: a case study of Bangladesh," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 1389-1408, May.
    19. Emerson, Patrick M. & Souza, André Portela, 2008. "Birth Order, Child Labor, and School Attendance in Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 1647-1664, September.
    20. Wanchuan Lin & Juan Pantano & Shuqiao Sun, 2020. "Birth order and unwanted fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(2), pages 413-440, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:asiaec:v:20:y:2006:i:1:p:47-74. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/eaeaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.