Demographic transition and investments in children’s human capital
Résumé
The objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of the demographic transition oninvestment in children human capital. Using 196 Demographic and Health Surveys collectedin 68 developing countries (Asian, African and Latin American countries particularly) sincethe 1990s, we explore the impact of the demographic conditions at childhood on child andadult outcomes. More specifically, micro-level data from the demographic and health surveysare matched with time series data on demographic conditions (fertility rate, mortality rate,dependency ratio) for each country of the sample to estimate and quantify the impact ofchanges in the demographic pressure at childhood on child outcomes (health and education).While our results differ across the two estimation methods used, i.e. cross-country and withincountry analyses, the cross-country comparisons suggest a negative association betweendemographic variables (fertility rate, mortality rate and dependency ratio) on human capital investments. We also find important differences across the regions with Africa being the region that suffers the most for the demographic pressure.