Three Essays on Child Wellbeing in Developing Countries

This dissertation explores factors that lead to poor outcomes for children in different developing country contexts—infant mortality in Indonesia, youth physical violence in Zimbabwe and solid fuel-use in southern Africa—and points to ways in which they might be addressed. Chapter 1 probes whether deforestation in Indonesia shapes infant mortality. Given that forest cover losses might lead to a growth in mosquito populations (for example, by causing a reduction in mosquito predators), this paper explores whether there is evidence of malaria being a mediator in the forest cover-infant mortality relationship in the country by testing for a higher detrimental effect of deforestation on the children born to women from their first pregnancies, a time during which women are most vulnerable to malaria infections. Chapter 2 examines whether a national unconditional cash transfer (CT) program in Zimbabwe was able to reduce youth exposure to physical violence by addressing poverty, a structural determinant of child abuse and maltreatment. Finally, Chapter 3 identifies the impacts of CT programs in Malawi and Zambia on household fuel use and evaluates whether the programs allowed recipient households to move away from solid fuels (such as firewood) which impose substantial health and time costs, particularly on sub-groups such as children.Doctor of Philosoph