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Abstract
In this paper, we demonstrate the difficulties of identifying both the
own- and cross-effects of health on the allocation of time within a
household, and develop and implement a method for estimating the effects of
infant morbidity on the differential allocation of time by other family
members based on discrete indicators of health and of activity participation
commonly available in survey data. Estimates obtained from Indonesian
household data indicate that inattention to problems of the measurement and
endogeneity of health leads to a substantial underestimate of the effects of
variations in child morbidity on the intrahousehold division of labor, and
our estimates that take into account the "simultaneity" of health-activity
associations indicate that increased levels of infant morbidity
significantly exacerbate existing differentials in work-home time
allocations across teenage boys and girls in Indonesia.