| This dissertation empirically studies health issues of policy importance in non-industrialized countries.;Chapter 1. The intra-household allocation of nutrients in China. Previous studies find that human capital investments in boys are less income elastic than investments in girls, attributing this result to favoritism toward boys. I show theoretically that it is plausible for more productive or favored household members to have higher income elasticities. I then investigate this question empirically, utilizing panel data on individual nutrient intake to analyze how changes in household per-capita nutrient intake affect the intra-household allocation of nutrients. To deal with potential biases due to omitted variables and simultaneity, I use measures of rainfall variation as instruments. I find that nutritional intakes are more elastic for males (especially prima-age men) than for females, and less elastic for the elderly.;Chapter 2. The impact of health insurance on elderly physician visits in Taiwan. Using four waves of panel data that span the introduction of national health insurance, I calculate difference-in-difference estimates of the effect of insurance on whether the elderly make any visit to doctors and the number of visits conditional on visiting a doctor. I find that four years after the universal coverage, insurance had no effect on the probability of having at least one physician visit, although it increased conditional physician visits by 29%. I also find that factors such as pent-up demand and congestion of medical facilities may have affected the magnitudes and timing of insurance effects.;Chapter 3. The effect of water accessibility on child health in China. Using panel data, the effect of access to clean water on child health is measured incorporating child fixed effects for the first time. To deal with possible bias caused by unobserved changes in household circumstances, we use a subset of sample children whose water access was likely affected by external projects rather than households' own demand. To deal with dynamic confounding factors at the community level, we make use of community fixed effects. We find that having access to clean water within the yard of one's house improves child health. |
