Doctoral Dissertation Research: Children at Risk: Economic Motivations and Consequences of Child Fostering in Burkina Faso

Yale University, New Haven CT

Investigators

Abstract

SES 0082840 PI: Christopher R Udry, Richard S Akresh This project uses data to be collected in Burkina Faso to assess a formal model of decision making as applied to decisions to put children out for foster care. The general concern is to assess the importance of household demographic preferences, informal insurance mechanisms, and labor productivity on these decisions. Both sending and receiving households will be tracked, thus improving on prior studies that only study one end of the transactions. The outcome of this work will be a structural model for understanding household decisions regarding desirable size of families. Results should be usable in designing programs to better meet the education, health, and labor needs of families.