Diane Coffey
Biographic Data
| ID | 106316 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Diane Coffey |
| GIVEN NAMES | Diane |
| FAMILY NAME | Coffey |
| SIGNATURE | COFFEY D |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Texas at Austin |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8133-1482 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 58 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
A gender gap in happiness
Happiness studies from around the world find that women report greater happiness than men. Few studies investigate this gap in India, wherethere are important gender disparities in social, educational, economic, and health outcomes. We use WHO SAGE 2007-08 data to document gaps in self-reported happiness between men and women in middle and later adulthood. We find that women are 5 percentage points more likely to report being "very happy" or "hap…
Excess neonatal mortality among private facility births in rural parts of high-mortality states of India
Mothers' Social Status and Children's Health
The premise that a woman's social status has intergenerational effects on her children's health has featured prominently in population science research and in development policy. This study focuses on an important case in which social hierarchy has such an effect. In joint patrilocal households in rural India, women married to the younger brother are assigned lower social rank than women married to the older brother in the same household. Almost …
Measurement of population mental health
In high-income countries, population health surveys often measure mental health. This is less common in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including in India, where mental health is under-researched relative to its disease burden. The objective of this study is to assess the performance of two questionnaires for measuring population mental health in a mobile phone survey. We adapt the Kessler-6 screening questionnaire and the World Health …
What Should We Agree on about the Repugnant Conclusion
The Repugnant Conclusion is an implication of some approaches to population ethics. It states, in Derek Parfit's original formulation, For any possible population of at least ten billion people, all with a very high quality of life, there must be some much larger imaginable population whose existence, if other things are equal, would be better, even though its members have lives that are barely worth living. (Parfit 1984: 388)
Endogenous inclusion in the Demographic and Health Survey anthropometric sample
Development economists study both anthropometry and intra-household allocation. In these literatures, the Demographic and Household Surveys (DHS) are essential. The DHS censors its anthropometric sample by age: only children under five are measured. We document several econometric consequences, especially for estimating birth-order effects. Child birth order and mothers' fertility are highly correlated in the age-censored anthropometric subsample…
Neonatal Death in India
We document a novel fact about neonatal death, or death in the first month of life. Globally, neonatal mortality is disproportionately concentrated in India. We identify a large effect of birth order on neonatal mortality that is unique to India: later-born siblings have a steep survival advantage relative to the birth-order gradient in other developing countries. We show that India’s high prevalence of maternal undernutrition and its correlation…
Persisting Prejudice
We present results from a new representative telephonic survey, which confirms persistence of conservative gender and caste attitudes. In particular, we find that high proportions of men and women in all of the social groups we study disapprove of women working outside the home, say that it is acceptable for husbands to beat their wives, and would object to relatives marrying a Dalit person. By analyzing data from the National Family Health Surve…
Caste, Religion, and Mental Health in India
Local Social Inequality, Economic Inequality, and Disparities in Child Height in India
This study investigates disparities in child height—an important marker of population-level health—among population groups in rural India. India is an informative context in which to study processes of health disparities because of wide heterogeneity in the degree of local segregation or integration among caste groups. Building on a literature that identifies discrimination by quantifying whether differences in socioeconomic status (SES) can acco…
The association between neonatal death and facility birth in regions of India
BACKGROUND: Reducing neonatal mortality in India is critical to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal of a global neonatal mortality rate (NNM) of no more than 12 per 1,000. Policy efforts to reduce India's NNM, including a large-scale conditional cash transfer program, have focused on promoting birth in health facilities, rather than at home. Between 2005 and 2015, the percentage of facility births doubled, from 40% to 80%. OBJECTIVE: …
The Consequences of Social Inequality for the Health and Development of India's Children
Sanitation, Disease Externalities and Anaemia
Anaemia impairs physical and cognitive development in children and reduces human capital accumulation. The prior economics literature has focused on the role of inadequate nutrition in causing anaemia. This article is the first to show that sanitation, a public good, significantly contributes to preventing anaemia. We identify effects by exploiting rapid and differential improvement in sanitation across regions of Nepal between 2006 and 2011. Wit…
Place and Child Health
A long literature in demography has debated the importance of place for health, especially children’s health. In this study, we assess whether the importance of dense settlement for infant mortality and child height is moderated by exposure to local sanitation behavior. Is open defecation (i.e., without a toilet or latrine) worse for infant mortality and child height where population density is greater? Is poor sanitation is an important mechanis…
Switching to sanitation
Can collective action strategies motivate behaviour change to reduce open defecation in rural India?
The world’s remaining open defecation is increasingly concentrated in rural India. The Indian Government’s efforts to reduce open defecation by providing subsidies for latrine construction have been largely unsuccessful in addressing the problem. It is now clear that behaviour change must be the priority if progress on ending open defecation is to be made. While community-led strategies have proven effective in various developing country contexts…
Underweight and Pregnant
Poor maternal nutrition in India is a major cause for concern. The depth of India’s maternal nutrition problems is evident in its high neonatal mortality, widespread underweight pre-pregnancy, low weight gain during pregnancy and high rates of maternal anaemia. Poor maternal nutrition has negative consequences for the health and economic productivity for the next generation. Existing government programmes are insufficient to address widespread ma…
Short-Term Labor Migration from Rural North India
Early life mortality and height in Indian states
Costs and consequences of a cash transfer for hospital births in a rural district of Uttar Pradesh, India
Children's Welfare and Short-term Migration from Rural India
Few papers in the literature provide quantitative analysis of the difficult circumstances faced by children of short-term labour migrants. This paper uses new survey data from rural northwest India to study both children who migrate and those left behind. It finds that, unlike in other contexts, children who migrate rarely work when they accompany adult migrants. Additionally, this paper reports a robust, previously unquantified negative relation…
Sanitation, Disease Externalities and Anaemia
Anaemia impairs physical and cognitive development in children and reduces human capital accumulation. The prior economics literature has focused on the role of inadequate nutrition in causing anaemia. This article is the first to show that sanitation, a public good, significantly contributes to preventing anaemia. We identify effects by exploiting rapid and differential improvement in sanitation across regions of Nepal between 2006 and 2011. Wit…
Switching to sanitation
Neonatal Death in India
We document a novel fact about neonatal death, or death in the first month of life. Globally, neonatal mortality is disproportionately concentrated in India. We identify a large effect of birth order on neonatal mortality that is unique to India: later-born siblings have a steep survival advantage relative to the birth-order gradient in other developing countries. We show that India’s high prevalence of maternal undernutrition and its correlation…
Local Social Inequality, Economic Inequality, and Disparities in Child Height in India
This study investigates disparities in child height—an important marker of population-level health—among population groups in rural India. India is an informative context in which to study processes of health disparities because of wide heterogeneity in the degree of local segregation or integration among caste groups. Building on a literature that identifies discrimination by quantifying whether differences in socioeconomic status (SES) can acco…
Place and Child Health
A long literature in demography has debated the importance of place for health, especially children’s health. In this study, we assess whether the importance of dense settlement for infant mortality and child height is moderated by exposure to local sanitation behavior. Is open defecation (i.e., without a toilet or latrine) worse for infant mortality and child height where population density is greater? Is poor sanitation is an important mechanis…
What Should We Agree on about the Repugnant Conclusion
The Repugnant Conclusion is an implication of some approaches to population ethics. It states, in Derek Parfit's original formulation, For any possible population of at least ten billion people, all with a very high quality of life, there must be some much larger imaginable population whose existence, if other things are equal, would be better, even though its members have lives that are barely worth living. (Parfit 1984: 388)
Costs and consequences of a cash transfer for hospital births in a rural district of Uttar Pradesh, India
Short-Term Labor Migration from Rural North India
Endogenous inclusion in the Demographic and Health Survey anthropometric sample
Development economists study both anthropometry and intra-household allocation. In these literatures, the Demographic and Household Surveys (DHS) are essential. The DHS censors its anthropometric sample by age: only children under five are measured. We document several econometric consequences, especially for estimating birth-order effects. Child birth order and mothers' fertility are highly correlated in the age-censored anthropometric subsample…
Mothers' Social Status and Children's Health
The premise that a woman's social status has intergenerational effects on her children's health has featured prominently in population science research and in development policy. This study focuses on an important case in which social hierarchy has such an effect. In joint patrilocal households in rural India, women married to the younger brother are assigned lower social rank than women married to the older brother in the same household. Almost …
Caste, Religion, and Mental Health in India
The Consequences of Social Inequality for the Health and Development of India's Children
Children's Welfare and Short-term Migration from Rural India
Few papers in the literature provide quantitative analysis of the difficult circumstances faced by children of short-term labour migrants. This paper uses new survey data from rural northwest India to study both children who migrate and those left behind. It finds that, unlike in other contexts, children who migrate rarely work when they accompany adult migrants. Additionally, this paper reports a robust, previously unquantified negative relation…
Early life mortality and height in Indian states
Costs and consequences of a cash transfer for hospital births in a rural district of Uttar Pradesh, India
Short-Term Labor Migration from Rural North India
Can collective action strategies motivate behaviour change to reduce open defecation in rural India?
The world’s remaining open defecation is increasingly concentrated in rural India. The Indian Government’s efforts to reduce open defecation by providing subsidies for latrine construction have been largely unsuccessful in addressing the problem. It is now clear that behaviour change must be the priority if progress on ending open defecation is to be made. While community-led strategies have proven effective in various developing country contexts…
Underweight and Pregnant
Poor maternal nutrition in India is a major cause for concern. The depth of India’s maternal nutrition problems is evident in its high neonatal mortality, widespread underweight pre-pregnancy, low weight gain during pregnancy and high rates of maternal anaemia. Poor maternal nutrition has negative consequences for the health and economic productivity for the next generation. Existing government programmes are insufficient to address widespread ma…
Place and Child Health
A long literature in demography has debated the importance of place for health, especially children’s health. In this study, we assess whether the importance of dense settlement for infant mortality and child height is moderated by exposure to local sanitation behavior. Is open defecation (i.e., without a toilet or latrine) worse for infant mortality and child height where population density is greater? Is poor sanitation is an important mechanis…
Switching to sanitation
Sanitation, Disease Externalities and Anaemia
Anaemia impairs physical and cognitive development in children and reduces human capital accumulation. The prior economics literature has focused on the role of inadequate nutrition in causing anaemia. This article is the first to show that sanitation, a public good, significantly contributes to preventing anaemia. We identify effects by exploiting rapid and differential improvement in sanitation across regions of Nepal between 2006 and 2011. Wit…
Local Social Inequality, Economic Inequality, and Disparities in Child Height in India
This study investigates disparities in child height—an important marker of population-level health—among population groups in rural India. India is an informative context in which to study processes of health disparities because of wide heterogeneity in the degree of local segregation or integration among caste groups. Building on a literature that identifies discrimination by quantifying whether differences in socioeconomic status (SES) can acco…
The association between neonatal death and facility birth in regions of India
BACKGROUND: Reducing neonatal mortality in India is critical to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal of a global neonatal mortality rate (NNM) of no more than 12 per 1,000. Policy efforts to reduce India's NNM, including a large-scale conditional cash transfer program, have focused on promoting birth in health facilities, rather than at home. Between 2005 and 2015, the percentage of facility births doubled, from 40% to 80%. OBJECTIVE: …
The Consequences of Social Inequality for the Health and Development of India's Children
Persisting Prejudice
We present results from a new representative telephonic survey, which confirms persistence of conservative gender and caste attitudes. In particular, we find that high proportions of men and women in all of the social groups we study disapprove of women working outside the home, say that it is acceptable for husbands to beat their wives, and would object to relatives marrying a Dalit person. By analyzing data from the National Family Health Surve…
Caste, Religion, and Mental Health in India
Measurement of population mental health
In high-income countries, population health surveys often measure mental health. This is less common in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including in India, where mental health is under-researched relative to its disease burden. The objective of this study is to assess the performance of two questionnaires for measuring population mental health in a mobile phone survey. We adapt the Kessler-6 screening questionnaire and the World Health …
What Should We Agree on about the Repugnant Conclusion
The Repugnant Conclusion is an implication of some approaches to population ethics. It states, in Derek Parfit's original formulation, For any possible population of at least ten billion people, all with a very high quality of life, there must be some much larger imaginable population whose existence, if other things are equal, would be better, even though its members have lives that are barely worth living. (Parfit 1984: 388)
Endogenous inclusion in the Demographic and Health Survey anthropometric sample
Development economists study both anthropometry and intra-household allocation. In these literatures, the Demographic and Household Surveys (DHS) are essential. The DHS censors its anthropometric sample by age: only children under five are measured. We document several econometric consequences, especially for estimating birth-order effects. Child birth order and mothers' fertility are highly correlated in the age-censored anthropometric subsample…
Neonatal Death in India
We document a novel fact about neonatal death, or death in the first month of life. Globally, neonatal mortality is disproportionately concentrated in India. We identify a large effect of birth order on neonatal mortality that is unique to India: later-born siblings have a steep survival advantage relative to the birth-order gradient in other developing countries. We show that India’s high prevalence of maternal undernutrition and its correlation…
Mothers' Social Status and Children's Health
The premise that a woman's social status has intergenerational effects on her children's health has featured prominently in population science research and in development policy. This study focuses on an important case in which social hierarchy has such an effect. In joint patrilocal households in rural India, women married to the younger brother are assigned lower social rank than women married to the older brother in the same household. Almost …
A gender gap in happiness
Happiness studies from around the world find that women report greater happiness than men. Few studies investigate this gap in India, wherethere are important gender disparities in social, educational, economic, and health outcomes. We use WHO SAGE 2007-08 data to document gaps in self-reported happiness between men and women in middle and later adulthood. We find that women are 5 percentage points more likely to report being "very happy" or "hap…
Excess neonatal mortality among private facility births in rural parts of high-mortality states of India
Economics (15 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Population (14 works) · Demography (13 works) · Economic growth (13 works) · Medicine (13 works) · Geography (12 works) · Demography (11 works) · Global Maternal and Child Health (10 works) · Socioeconomics (10 works)