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Extended Families and Child Well-being

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  • Daniel LaFave
  • Duncan Thomas

Abstract

Whereas studies have established the intra-household distribution of resources affects allocation decisions, little is known about how these decisions are affected by the distribution of resources among co-resident and non co-resident extended family members. Drawing on theoretical models of collective decision-making, we use extremely rich data from Indonesia to establish that child health- and education-related human capital outcomes are affected by resources of extended family members who co-reside with the child and those who are not co-resident. Extended family members are not completely altruistic but their allocation decisions are apparently co-ordinated in a way that is consistent with Pareto efficiency.

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  • Daniel LaFave & Duncan Thomas, 2014. "Extended Families and Child Well-being," NBER Working Papers 20702, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20702
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ao, Xiang & Chen, Xuan & Zhao, Zhong, 2022. "Is care by grandparents or parents better for children's non-cognitive skills? Evidence on locus of control from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    3. Ulrich Nguemdjo & Bruno Ventelou, 2020. "How do migrations affect under-five mortality in rural areas? Evidence from Niakhar, Senegal," Working Papers halshs-03078776, HAL.
    4. Perez-Alvarez, Marcello & Strulik, Holger, 2021. "Nepotism, human capital and economic development," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 211-240.
    5. Bargain, Olivier & Lacroix, Guy & Tiberti, Luca, 2021. "Intrahousehold Resource Allocation and Individual Poverty: Assessing Collective Model Predictions against Direct Evidence on Sharing," IZA Discussion Papers 14406, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Judith A. Seltzer, 2019. "Family Change and Changing Family Demography," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(2), pages 405-426, April.
    7. Denni Tommasi & Arthur Lewbel & Rossella Calvi, 2017. "LATE with Mismeasured or Misspecified Treatment: An application to Women's Empowerment in India," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2017-27, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Margherita Calderone, 2017. "Are there different spillover effects from cash transfers to men and women?: Impacts on investments in education in post-war Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-93, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Deng, Xin & Yu, Mingzhe, 2021. "Does the marginal child increase household debt? – Evidence from the new fertility policy in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    10. Marcos A. Rangel & Duncan Thomas, 2019. "Decision-Making in Complex Households," Working Papers 2019-070, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    11. Maria Alessandra Antonelli & Valeria De Bonis, 2021. "Economic Poverty: Does the Break-Up of Families Matter?," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-20, June.
    12. Denni Tommasi, 2016. "Household Responses to cash Transfers," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2016-20, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    13. Castilla, Carolina, 2019. "What's yours is mine, and what's mine is mine: Field experiment on income concealing between spouses in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 125-140.
    14. Denni Tommasi, 2015. "How Cash Transfers Improve Child Development," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2015-19, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    15. Marcos Rangel & Duncan Thomas, 2019. "Decision-Making in Complex Households," NBER Working Papers 26511, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Margherita Calderone, 2017. "Are there different spillover effects from cash transfers to men and women? Impacts on investments in education in post-war Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series 093, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Olivier Bargain, 2022. "Income Sources, Intra-Household Allocation And Individual Poverty," Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Working Paper Series 121, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    18. Milovanska-Farrington, Stefani, 2021. "The Effect of Parental and Grandparental Supervision Time Investment on Children's Early-Age Development," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(3), pages 286-304.
    19. Zafar, Rafia, 2022. "Intergenerational Mobility in Income and Consumption: Evidence from Indonesia," SocArXiv uzcfs, Center for Open Science.
    20. Thomas, Duncan & Rangel, Marcos, 2020. "Decision-Making in Complex Households," CEPR Discussion Papers 14278, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    21. Andrea Salustri & Valeria De Bonis & Maria Alessandra Antonelli & Angelo Castaldo, 2023. "Poverty and social exclusion: which relationship with non-traditional household models?," Public Finance Research Papers 58, Istituto di Economia e Finanza, DSGE, Sapienza University of Rome.
    22. Treleaven, Emily, 2023. "The relationship between extended kin resources and children's healthcare utilization: An analysis of family networks," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).

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    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • I0 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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