Effect of Worldwide Oil Price Fluctuations on Biomass Fuel Use and Child Respiratory Health: Evidence from Guatemala

Abstract

Fluctuations in worldwide fuel prices affected household fuel use and, consequently, child health. Policies to help households tide over fuel price shocks or reduce pollution from biomass sources would confer positive health benefits. Such policies would be most effective if they targeted both poor and middle-income households.

Effects of Household Shocks and Poverty on the Timing of Traditional Male Circumcision and HIV Risk in South Africa

“…Some recent work has demonstrated a robust relationship between economic shocks and engagement in sexual behaviors that increase the risk of contracting HIV. This work is couched within a larger line of research that demonstrates the impacts of shocks on health behaviors and outcomes, more generally (19)(20)(21)(22). Collectively, this evidence suggests that one way that poverty may influence HIV risk is by increasing vulnerability to socioeconomic shocks, which in turns hampers the ability to make key health investments that reduce the risk of acquiring HIV.…”

“…Given this data structure, we focused the analysis on those African men who were not circumcised in Wave 1, and considered the impact of shocks in the ensuing 3-year period (i.e., those reported in Wave 3) on circumcision age. Since, at baseline, all respondents fell within or around the typical age range for traditional male circumcision (age [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22], examining shocks during this time period was appropriate as they corresponded to the time when households were probably considering circumcising the young adult and saving money for this purpose.…”

The Economics of Household Air Pollution

“…This literature on household solid-fuel use also highlights the role of supply-side influences, including the availability or prices of clean alternatives like LPG and the prices, ease of use, and adaptability of ICSs for traditional food preparations (Gupta & Köhlin 2006, Akpalu et al 2011, Ruiz-Mercado et al 2011, Venkataramani & Fried 2011, Alem et al 2013. Some studies consider how the adoption curve for clean stoves evolves over time (Beyene & Koch 2013) and discuss the striking lack of development of a supply chain for alternatives to traditional stoves ).…”