Last updated May 2011
Authors:
Elizabeth Frankenberg; Duncan Thomas
Abstract:
Using experimental and non-experimental micro-level data from
Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa, this project measures
the effects of investments in family planning and reproductive health
services on a broad array of indicators of the health, well-being and
economic prosperity of women, their children and their families. We pay
special attention to estimating the causal effects of these programs on
the status of women, economic productivity, savings and investment:
outcomes that are rarely considered in the evaluation of program
effects but that are crucial for estimating the full benefits to
society of investments in reproductive health. We rigorously evaluate
the impact of improvements in women’s health and empowerment on future
economic prosperity. We go on to explore whether women’s greater
propensity to invest in children, relative to men, can be attributed to
differences in preferences and contrast inter-temporal preferences of
males and females. Taking all the evidence in combination, this
research will provide important insights into the likely causal
mechanisms that underlie association between population composition and
economic growth.
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