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We develop a theoretical model where child labour results from a household's trade-off between sending a child to school or to work. Education is considered as a risky investment, since the survival of the child is not certain. We explore the effects of public expenditure on education and health on child labour. On the one hand, we establish that health expenditure reduces child labour more when child mortality rate is high. On the other hand, a moderate aversion to risk is a necessary condition for expenditure on education to have a positive effect on child labour. Our theoretical results are tested empirically on data from 66 developing countries between 1985 and 2000.

This paper looks for the impact of the Chinese economic reforms on its health performance. From an appropriate health outcomes indicator, it appears that while still being one of the most performing countries, China's relative advance decreased during the reforms. Consistent with the fact that the health system had to rely more and more on private expenditures, we find an increasing impact of income on infant survival. We also show that relative prices matter for infant survival: for a given increase of income per capita, a currency real depreciation lowers survival. Focusing on poverty reduction still seems to be in China the main way to significantly improve infant survival. Résumé Cet article étudie l'impact des réformes économiques de la Chine sur ses performances de santé. A partir d'un indicateur approprié de mesure de santé, il apparaît que si la Chine est toujours l'un des pays les plus performants en la matière, son avance relative a diminué au fil des réformes. L'impact du revenu sur la survie infantile a considérablement augmenté avec les réformes, ce qui est cohérent avec un système de santé reposant de façon croissante sur des dépenses privées. Un rôle important des prix relatifs sur la survie infantile est également mis en évidence : pour un niveau donné de revenu par tête, une dépréciation réelle de la monnaie réduit la survie. Se concentrer sur la réduction de la pauvreté semble toujours être en Chine la meilleure façon d'améliorer la survie infantile.