Development Microeconomics China Center for Economic Research
Peking University
July, 2005
                                                                                                                                         John Strauss
University of Southern California
9:00-12:00, weekdays, July 7-July 22
Zhifuxuan, CCER
 
 
       These lectures will introduce theoretical and empirical methods related to the study of household and human resource issues in developing economies.  Throughout the lectures we will endeavor to weave in a wide variety of topics related to micro-empirical research.  These turn out to be critical to appropriately interpreting empirical results and in designing research strategies.   A very good reference for the econometrics is Jeffrey Wooldridge’s Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data, MIT Press, 2002.  In addition, although not necessary to the course, Angus Deaton's book, The Analysis of Household Surveys, Johns Hopkins Press, 1997, has many useful sections, with particularly good discussions of household surveys and their econometric analysis.
 
 
Day 1. Introduction to Household Production Models: Separable models
 
 
Singh, I.; L. Squire and J. Strauss, (1986). Agricultural Household Models, Johns Hopkins University Press, Chapter 1 and Appendix.
 
Rosenzweig, M.R., (1980). "Neoclassical Theory and the Optimizing Peasant: An Econometric Analysis of Market Labor Supply in a Developing Country," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 95.1:31-55.
 
Handouts.
 
 
Days 2 and 3. Introduction to Household Production Models: Nonseparable models
 
Singh, I.; L. Squire and J. Strauss, (1986). Agricultural Household Models, Johns Hopkins University Press, Chapter 1 and Appendix.
 
Benjamin, D., (1992). "Household Composition, Labor Markets and Labor Demand:  Testing for Separation in Agricultural Household Models, Econometrica, 60.2:287-322.
 
Gurgand, M., (2003). Farmer education and the weather: Evidence from Taiwan (1976-1992), Journal of Development Economics, 71.1:51-70.
 
Handouts.
 
Additional Readings:
 
Lambert, S. and T. Magnac (1994). Measurement of implicit prices of family labour in agriculture: An application to Cote d’Ivoire, in F. Caillavet, H. Guyomard and R. Lifran eds., Agricultural Household Modeling and Family Economics, Developments in Agricultural Economics 10, Amsterdam: Elsevier.
 
Behrman, J., A. Foster and M.R. Rosenzweig, (1997). “Dynamic Savings Decisions in Agricultural Environments With Incomplete Markets”, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, 15:282-292.
 
deJanvry, A. and E. Sadoulet (2003). Configurations and transactions: Frontiers in the modeling of rural households’ behavior, mimeo.
 
 
Days 4 and 5. Household Production of Non-Market Goods: Fertility and Investments in Children
 
Rosenzweig, M.R., (1990). "Population Growth and Human Capital Investments:  Theory and Evidence," Journal of Political Economy, 98 (supplement), S38-S70.
 
Lam, D., and S. Duryea, (1999). Effects of Schooling on Fertility, Labor Supply and Investments in Children, Journal of Human Resources, 34.1:160-92.
 
Thomas, D., J. Strauss and M.-H. Henriques, (1990). "Child Survival, Height-for-Age and Household Characteristics in Brazil", Journal of Development Economics, 33.2:333-364.
 
Parish, W. and R. Willis, (1993). “Daughters, Education and Family Budgets: Taiwan Experiences”, Journal of Human Resources, 28:863-898.
 
Qian, N. (2004). “Quality-Quantity: The Positive Effect of Family Size on School Enrollment in China”, mimeo, Department of Economics, MIT.
 
Handouts.
 
 Additional Reading:
 
Strauss, J. and D. Thomas (1995). "Human Resources: Empirical Models of Households and Family Decisions," in J. Behrman and T.N. Srinivasan (eds.), Handbook of Development Economics, Volume 3A, North Holland Press, Sections 3.1-3.5,3.7,4.1-4.3.
 
 
Day 6. Food, Nutrition and the Labor Market
 
 a. Health, Nutrition Impacts on Labor Outcomes
 
Strauss, J. and Thomas, D. (1998). "Health, Nutrition and Economic Development," Journal of Economic Literature, 36.2:766-817.
 
Strauss, J. and Thomas, D. (1997). "Health, Wealth and Wages of Men and Women in Urban Brazil," Journal of Econometrics, 77.1:159-186.
 
Pitt, M.M., M.R. Rosenzweig, and Md.N. Hassan, (1990). "Productivity, Health and Inequality in the Intra-household Distribution of Food in Low-Income Countries," American Economic Review, 80.5:1139-1156.
 
Foster, A. and M.R. Rosenzweig, (1994). "A Test for Moral Hazard in the Labor Market:  Effort, Health and Calorie Consumption", Review of Economics and Statistics, 76.2:213-227.
 
Handouts.
 
 Additional Reading: 
 
Strauss, J., (1986). "Does Better Nutrition Raise Farm Productivity?", Journal of Political Economy, 94.2:297-320.
 
Swamy, A. (1997). "A Simple Test of the Nutrition-Based Efficiency Wage Model," Journal of Development Economics, 53:85-98.
 
 
Days 7, 8 and 9.  Issues in Program Evaluation: Endogenous Program Placement, Econometric Analysis and Randomized Experiments
 
Thomas, D. and J. Strauss, (1992). Prices, infrastructure, household characteristics and child height, Journal of Development Economics, 39:310-332.
 
Thomas, D. and J. Maluccio, (1996). Fertility, Contraceptive Choice and Public Policy in Zimbabwe, World Bank Economic Review, 10.1:189-222.
 
Ravallion, M. and Q. Wodon, (2000). “Does Child Labor Displace Schooling?: Evidence on Behavioral Responses to an Enrollment Subsidy”, Economic Journal, 110:C158-C175.
 
Moffitt, R., (1991). “Program Evaluation With Nonexperimental Data”, Evaluation Review, 15:291-314.
 
Pitt, M.M., M.R. Rosenzweig and D. Gibbons, (1993). "The Determinants and Consequences of the Placement of Government Programs in Indonesia," World Bank Economic Review, 7:319-348.
 
Duflos, E., (1998), “Schooling and Labor Market Consequences of School Construction in Indonesia: Evidence From an Unusual Policy Experiment”, American Economic Review, 91:795-813.
 
Frankenberg, E. and D. Thomas. (2001). Women’s Health and Pregnancy Outcomes: Do Services Make a Difference?, Demography, 38:253-66.
 
Pitt, M.M. and S.R. Khandker (1998). "The Impact of Group-Based Credit Programs on Poor Households in Bangladesh: Does the Gender of Participants Matter," Journal of Political Economy, 106.5:958-996.
 
Ravallion, M. and J. Jalan. 2003. Estimating the Benefit Incidence of an Anti-poverty Program By Propensity-Score Matching, Journal of Economic and Business Statistics, 21.1:19-30.
 
Newman, J., M. Pradhan, L. Rawlings, G. Ridder, R. Coa, and J.L. Evia. 2002. An impact evaluation of education, health, and water supply investments by the Bolivian Social Investment Fund, World Bank Economic Review, 16.2: 241-274.
 
Schultz, T. Paul, (2004). “School Subsidies for the Poor: Evaluating the Mexican Progresa Poverty Program”, Journal of Development Economics, 74.1:199-250.
 
Miguel E. and M. Kremer (2004). Worms: Identifying impacts on education and health in the presence of treatment externalities, Econometrica, 72.1:159-217.
 
Thomas. D. et al. (2004). Iron deficiency and the well-being of older adults: Early results from a randomized nutrition intervention, mimeo.
 
Handouts.
 
Additional Reading:
 
Rosenzweig, M. and K. Wolpin. (2000). Natural “Natural Experiments” in Economics, Journal of Economic Literature, 38:827-74.
 
Rosenzweig, M. and K. Wolpin, (1986). Evaluating the effects of optimally distributed public programs, American Economic Review, 76:470-482.
 
Heckman, J. and S. Navarro-Lozano, (2005). “Using Matching, Instrumental Variables and Control Functions to Estimate Economic Choice Models”, Review of Economics and Statistics, 86.1:30-57.
 
Dehejia, R. and S. Wahba. 2002. Propensity Score-Matching Methods for Nonexperimental Causal Studies, Review of Economics and Statistics, 84:151-61.
 
Smith, J. and P. Todd. 2001. Does Matching Overcome Lalonde’s Critique of Nonexperimental Estimates?, PIER Working Paper No. 01-35, University of Pennsylvania.
 
 
Days 10, 11 and 12. Household Structure and the Intra-Household Distribution of Resources
 
 a.  Intra-household Resource Allocation- Unified Models
 
Pitt, M.M. (1997). "The Specification and Estimation of the Demand for Goods Within the Household," in L. Haddad, J. Hoddinott and H. Alderman (editors), Intrahousehold Resource Allocation in Developing Countries:  Models, Methods and Policy, Johns Hopkins University Press. pp.19-38.
 
Rosenzweig, M.R. and T.P. Schultz, (1982). "Market Opportunities Endowments, and the Intrafamily Allocation of Resources:  Rural India," American Economic Review, 74.4:215-235.
 
Pitt, M.M., M.R. Rosenzweig, and Md.N. Hassan, (1990). "Productivity, Health and Inequality in the Intra-household Distribution of Food in Low-Income Countries," American Economic Review, 80.5:1139-1156.
 
b.  Intra-household Resource Allocation- Collective Models
 
Chiappori, P.-A. (1997). ""Collective Models of Household Behavior: The Sharing Rule Approach," in L. Haddad, J. Hoddinott and H. Alderman (editors), Intrahousehold Resource Allocation in Developing Countries:  Models, Methods and Policy, pp.39-52.
 
Thomas, D. (1990), "Intra-Household Resource Allocation:  An Inferential Approach," Journal of Human Resources, 25:635-664.
 
Thomas, D., (1994). "Like Father, Like Son:  Like Mother, Like Daughter: Parental Resources and Child Height", Journal of Human Resources, 29.4:950-988.
 
Udry, C. (1996). "Gender, Agricultural Production and the Theory of the Household," Journal of Political Economy, 104.5:1010-1046.
 
Rangel, M. (2004). “Alimony rights and intra-household allocation of resources: Evidence from Brazil”, BREAD Working Paper No. 066.
 
Qian, N. (2004). “Missing Women and the Price of Tea in China”, mimeo, Department of Economics, MIT.
 
Udry, C. and E. Duflo (2004). “Intrahousehold Resource Allocation in Cote d’Ivoire: Social Norms, Separate Accounts and Consumption Choices”, mimeo, Department of Economics, Yale University.
 
Handouts.