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Rainfall shocks, parental behavior and breastfeeding: evidence from rural Vietnam

Author

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  • Thuan Q. Thai

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • Mikko Myrskylä

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

Abstract

In developing countries, rainfall shocks around the time of birth have been shown decrease later health. The mechanism is unknown, but could run through income shocks, disease exposure, or increasing opportunity cost of parental time which influences parenting behavior. We use the Vietnam Demographic Health Surveys to study how rainfall shocks around the birth year influence a key dimension of parental behavior, breastfeeding. Consistent with the opportunity cost of time theory, rainfall reduces breastfeeding: 25% excess rainfall in the birth year decreases the proportion that is breastfed more than a year by 11 percentage points. The effect is particularly strong among farming families, for whom rainfall increases the opportunity cost of time through labor demand. These results are the first to shed light on the mechanism linking rainfall shocks and child health. Policy aiming to improve child health through breastfeeding should focus on the impact of labor demand on breastfeeding.

Suggested Citation

  • Thuan Q. Thai & Mikko Myrskylä, 2012. "Rainfall shocks, parental behavior and breastfeeding: evidence from rural Vietnam," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2012-009, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2012-009
    DOI: 10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2012-009
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. María Fernanda Rosales, 2014. "Impact of Early Life Shocks on Human Capital Formation: El Niño Floods in Ecuador," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 87693, Inter-American Development Bank.
    2. Youhong Lin & Feng Liu & Peng Xu, 2021. "Effects of drought on infant mortality in China," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(2), pages 248-269, February.
    3. Thuan Q. Thai & Evangelos M. Falaris, 2014. "Child Schooling, Child Health, and Rainfall Shocks: Evidence from Rural Vietnam," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(7), pages 1025-1037, July.
    4. Rosales-Rueda, Maria, 2018. "The impact of early life shocks on human capital formation: evidence from El Niño floods in Ecuador," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 13-44.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Vietnam; breast feeding; cost of children;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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