Child Labor Decisions Research Articles

Does the timing of the school year affect child labor decisions in developing countries?

Does the timing of the school year affect child labor decisions in developing countries?

Risk preference and child labor: Econometric evidence

AbstractHouseholds may invest in the human capital development of their children not only for altruistic reasons but also as insurance against future income shocks. Therefore, the allocation of the child's time between school and work is a function of the risk preference of the household head. This paper analyzes the relationship between parental risk preferences and child labor decisions using recall information on child labor and a risk elicitation question. Results reveal that risk‐averse households are more likely to send their children to work. Endogeneity issues are addressed by employing instrumental variables. These results suggest that child labor may be driven by the need to maximize the household's expected income from the child. Regarding heterogeneity, we find that the child labor effect of risk‐aversion is higher for older children. Furthermore, the father's risk‐aversion matters for the probability of child labor, while the intensity of child labor increases with the mother's risk‐aversion. The findings call for an understanding of the behavioral context of the affected households and how risk preferences can affect the success of proposed policies to reduce child labor.

Rainfall Variability, Child Labor, and Human Capital Accumulation in Rural Ethiopia

How does income uncertainty affect human capital investments in agrarian economies? Using child‐level panel data, I exploit a medium‐run change in mean‐preserving rainfall variability to identify the effects of income uncertainty on the child labor decisions and human capital investments of smallholder farmers in rural Ethiopia. I estimate that increased rainfall variability is associated with less child labor and more schooling, consistent with a diversification mechanism. These findings highlight the empirical relevance of income uncertainty for decision making and household investment in rural economies. I find no evidence that rainfall variability is associated with past, present, or future rainfall, nor with income, wealth, and agricultural outcomes. As such, residual variation in realized income shocks—the main confounding interpretation—does not appear to explain the results.

Schooling and Labor Market Impacts of Bolivia's Bono Juancito Pinto Program

Schooling and Labor Market Impacts of Bolivia's <i>Bono Juancito Pinto</i> Program

How do low-income Kurdish migrant families in Turkey negotiate child/adolescent characteristics in child labor decisions? Insights from Kurdish mothers

As part of a larger ethnographic study, this article explored the ways lowincome Kurdish families negotiated child characteristics identified as determinants in child labor decisions. Of the 27 Kurdish mothers who participated in the larger study, 18 were included for the purpose of this article. Data for this article primarily relied on demographic surveys and indepth interviews. Mothers’ accounts showed that children’s age, birth order, gender, and school success/continuation were critical factors in the decision-making process for child labor. Older children were more likely to work. Birth order was moderated by children’s educational prospects. Gender was more critical in determining appropriate workplaces for girls and not whether they could work. In contrast to the existing literature, findings of this study showed that the relationship between child labor and education was bidirectional. More specifically, while child labor affected education, children’s school success/attendance also shaped child labor decisions. Mothers’ accounts also pointed to the complex and dynamic family processes that took into account children’s and families’ unique circumstances. As a result, this article offered a deeper understanding of family processes behind child labor decisions, which in turn had important policy and practice implications.

Child labor legislation: effective, benign, both, or neither?

This paper explores the relationship between the state-specific child labor legislation and the decline in child labor that occurred in the US between 1880 and 1900. The existing literature that addresses this question uses a difference-in-difference estimation technique. We contribute to this literature in two ways. First, we argue that this estimation technique can produce misleading results due to (a) the possibility of multiplicity of equilibria and (b) the non-linearity of the underlying econometric model. Second, we develop an empirical strategy to identify the mechanism by which the legislation affected child labor decisions. In particular, besides establishing whether the legislation was effective or not, our analysis may determine whether the legislation constituted a benign policy or not, i.e., whether the legislation constrained the behavior of families (not benign) or whether it changed the labor market to a new equilibrium in which families voluntarily respected the law (benign).

Child Labor Legislation: Effective, Benign, Both, or Neither?

This paper explores the relationship between the state-specific child labor legislation and the decline in child labor that occurred in the U.S. between 1880 and 1900. The existing literature that addresses this question uses a difference-in-difference estimation technique. We contribute to this literature in two ways. First, we argue that this estimation technique can produce misleading results due to: (a) the possibility of multiplicity of equilibria and (b) the non-linearity of the underlying econometric model. Second, we develop an empirical strategy to identify the mechanism by which the legislation affected child labor decisions. In particular, besides establishing whether the legislation was effective or not, our analysis may determine if the legislation constituted a benign policy or not, i.e., whether the legislation constrained the behavior of families (not benign) or whether it changed the labor market to a new equilibrium in which families voluntarily respected the law (benign).

Household schooling and child labor decisions in rural Bangladesh

Using empirical methods, this paper examines household schooling and child labor decisions in rural Bangladesh. The results suggest the following: poverty and low parental education are associated with lower schooling and greater child labor; asset-owning households are more likely to have children combine child labor with schooling; households choose the same activity for all children within the household, regardless of gender; there is a weak association between direct costs and household decisions; finally, higher child wages encourage households to practice child labor.

Household Schooling and Child Labor Decisions in Rural Bangladesh

Using empirical methods, this paper examines household schooling and child labor decisions in rural Bangladesh. The results suggest the following: poverty and low parental education are associated with lower schooling and greater child labor; asset-owning households are more likely to have children combine child labor with schooling; households choose the same activity for all children within the household, regardless of gender; there is a weak association between direct costs and household decisions; finally, higher child wages encourage households to practice child labor.

Trade Adjustment and Human Capital Investment: Evidence From Indian Tariff Reform

Do the short and medium term adjustment costs associated with trade liberalization influence schooling and child labor decisions? We examine this question in the context of India's 1991 tariff reforms. Overall, in the 1990s, rural India experienced a dramatic increase in schooling and decline in child labor. However, communities that relied heavily on employment in protected industries before liberalization do not experience as large an increase in schooling or decline in child labor. The data suggest that this failure to follow the national trend of increasing schooling and diminishing work is associated with a failure to follow the national trend in poverty reduction. Schooling costs appear to play a large role in this relationship between poverty, schooling, and child labor. Extrapolating from our results, our estimates imply that roughly half of India's rise in schooling and a third of the fall in child labor during the 1990s can be explained by falling poverty and therefore improved capacity to afford schooling.

School Incentive Programs and Children’s Activities: The Case of Bangladesh

Previous articleNext article No AccessSchool Incentive Programs and Children’s Activities: The Case of BangladeshMary Arends‐Kuenning and Sajeda AminMary Arends‐Kuenning Search for more articles by this author and Sajeda Amin Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Comparative Education Review Volume 48, Number 3August 2004 Sponsored by the Comparative and International Education Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/421376 Views: 176Total views on this site Citations: 21Citations are reported from Crossref © 2004 by the Comparative and International Education Society. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Rafiqul Islam, Md Mahmudul Hoque Trade-Off Between Schooling and Labor for Children: Understanding the Determinative Factors Among Rural Households in Bangladesh, Frontiers in Sociology 7 (Jun 2022).https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2022.839231Antara Lahiri Flying with both wings: empowering adolescent girls through transformative social protection, Policy Design and Practice 92 (May 2020): 1–15.https://doi.org/10.1080/25741292.2020.1747720Sanzidur Rahman, Basanta Kumar Barmon, Asif Reza Anik Productivity growth and efficiency changes in prawn-carp–rice farming in ‘Gher’ system in Bangladesh: A Färe-Primont index approach, Aquaculture 522 (May 2020): 735107.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2020.735107Mohammad Alam, Shinji Kaneko The Effects of Electrification on School Enrollment in Bangladesh: Short- and Long-Run Perspectives, Energies 12, no.44 (Feb 2019): 629.https://doi.org/10.3390/en12040629Claus C. 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Najeeb Shafiq Family, community, and educational outcomes in South Asia, PROSPECTS 40, no.44 (Nov 2010): 517–534.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-010-9169-zT. Paul Schultz Population and Health Policies*, (Jan 2010): 4785–4881.https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-52944-2.00010-0Robert E. Slavin Can financial incentives enhance educational outcomes? Evidence from international experiments, Educational Research Review 5, no.11 (Jan 2010): 68–80.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2009.12.001Mohammad Niaz Asadullah, Nazmul Chaudhury Reverse Gender Gap in Schooling in Bangladesh: Insights from Urban and Rural Households, Journal of Development Studies 45, no.88 (Sep 2009): 1360–1380.https://doi.org/10.1080/00220380902935824 REVIEW AND COMMENTARY, Journal of Children and Media 3, no.11 (Feb 2009): 95–114.https://doi.org/10.1080/17482790802577020M. Najeeb Shafiq A reversal of educational fortune? 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