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Impacts of dengue epidemics on household labor market outcomes
Walsh, A. (2019). Impacts of dengue epidemics on household labor market outcomes. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 41(4), 684-702. https://doi.org/10.1093/aepp/ppy027
Existing research on household-level dengue impacts only assesses families of individuals with disease. However, behavioral and economic factors affect all households within an epidemic region. I assess changes in work hours among males and females in Iquitos, Peru, during intermittent dengue epidemics from 2005–2010. Epidemics are associated with large decreases in work hours for men and women who work. Females reduce hours more than males, and reduce hours when no household members report illness. The findings suggest that current government interventions aimed at reducing transmission during epidemics may inadvertently deter labor market activity. This research contributes to the infectious disease literature by separately assessing the impacts of epidemics on males and females in all households in an affected region.
