The Department of Economics Applied Microeconomics Seminar Series presents

"The Impact of Parental Death on Child Well-being"
with Duncan Thomas, Professor of Economics and Global Health, Duke University

May 22, 2012
3:30-5:00 p.m.
Social Science Plaza A, Room 2112

Identifying the impact of parental death on the well-being of children is complicated because parental death is not usually exogenous with respect to other factors that affect child well-being. Longitudinal data collected in Aceh, Indonesia, before and after the Indian Ocean tsunami are used to identify the impact of parental deaths that are arguably exogenous. Because the tsunami was unanticipated and the force of the water varied as a function of idiosyncratic features of the topography and landscape, chance played a dominant role in mortality. Baseline data were collected on 1,173 children age 9-17 years as part of a population-representative survey conducted ten months prior to the December 2004 tsunami in areas that were subsequently heavily damaged by the tsunami. With data from interviews with the same children after the tsunami, comparisons are drawn between those who lost one parent, both parents and those whose parents survived. Shorter-term impacts on school attendance and time allocation a year after the tsunami are examined as well as longer-term impacts on education and marriage five years after the tsunami.

For further information, please contact Gloria Simpson, simpsong@uci.edu or 949-824-5788.