Increased Rural connectivity and its effects on health outcomes
March 21, 2013
This paper explores the impact of increasing openness and connectivity of rural areas to the outside world on health outcomes and awareness levels. The focus is on in rural Pakistan with outcomes being examined over a fifteen year period. In particular, the paper studies whether improved access to markets for rural areas through a widening (and/or upgraded) road network has had a positive impact on child nutritional status as measured by height-for-age and incidence of illness. Moreover, the paper also studies if awareness regarding health practices, including immunization and breastfeeding has improved as accessibility to villages has bettered. The analysis uses the IFPRI-PIDE panel data where the IFPRI data covers the 1986 – 1991 period while the PIDE Pakistan Rural Household Survey was conducted in 2001-2002 and 2003-2004.
Dr. Hadia Majid
I use the panel aspect of the data to isolate inter-generational changes in health-related outcomes. I estimate a linear regression to examine the effect of increased access to urban markets. I also estimate a family fixed effects model so as to inspect differences in health outcomes at the intra-household level. The results suggest that as roads improve and rural markets become more integrated with urban ones, health outcomes witness a positive affect at the aggregate level with differences at the intra-household level, particularly those between the genders, declining.
About the presenter:
Dr. Hadia Majid is Assistant Professor Economics at Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan. A Fulbright Scholar, she holds a PhD in Development Economics from The Ohio State University, an MA in Economics from The Ohio State University, an MSc in Economics from the University of Warwick, and a BSc in Economics from Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Her research largely focuses on different economic characteristics of the household, including parental decision-making and human capital acquisition. Her previous work has looked at conditional cash transfers evaluations at the intra-household level, factors that affect parental investment in child education, female bargaining power in rural Pakistan, and agricultural taxation in Pakistan. On-going research includes impact evaluation of climate change on farmer productivity, rural connectivity and its effect on health outcomes, and an evaluation of Pak-India trade potential within the health sector.
Dr. Hadia Majid is Assistant Professor Economics at Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan. A Fulbright Scholar, she holds a PhD in Development Economics from The Ohio State University, an MA in Economics from The Ohio State University, an MSc in Economics from the University of Warwick, and a BSc in Economics from Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Her research largely focuses on different economic characteristics of the household, including parental decision-making and human capital acquisition. Her previous work has looked at conditional cash transfers evaluations at the intra-household level, factors that affect parental investment in child education, female bargaining power in rural Pakistan, and agricultural taxation in Pakistan. On-going research includes impact evaluation of climate change on farmer productivity, rural connectivity and its effect on health outcomes, and an evaluation of Pak-India trade potential within the health sector.
Labels: Management of Pakistan Economy
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 3/21/2013 02:46:00 PM,
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