Three essays in child development

Abstract

This dissertation consists of three independent essays on educational and health issues in child development. The first and second chapters are independent empirical studies authored solely by me, while the third chapter is co-authored with Yue Bao. The first essay investigates the development of personality traits and cognitive skills during adolescence. I find evidence of cross-effects and self-productivity of personality traits and cognitive skills, using Australian data. Both parental investments and child rearing are critical for the development of personality traits and cognitive skills during adolescence. I also find that personality traits and cognitive skills are important for adult earnings. The second essay examines the effect of living in the vicinity of an electronic-waste dumpsite on infant health outcomes in Ghana. I find that exposure from the e-waste dumping site significantly increases the probability of diarrhea and respiratory illness. I find two mechanisms, tetanus infection and water pollution. I find that premature birth is more likely to occur when mothers have not received a tetanus vaccine during or before pregnancy in the exposed area. I also find that diarrhea can be mitigated by consuming safer sources of drinking water. In the third essay, we develop a two-period discrete choice model to examine how higher education decisions are shaped when student loans play an increasingly crucial role in the US. We still find disparities in higher education attainment under a constructed scenario in which all students, regardless of family income, rely on student loans. The model highlights and helps us better understand whether disparities in higher education attainment are due to unequal access to financing or to deeper structural inequalities (for example, inequalities in K-12 preparation).