posted on 2017-03-06, 05:32authored byKimbu, David Mutie
This thesis investigates socio-economic and health economic issues related to the Kenyan people using the 2003 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey Data. The studies give empirical evidence that helps to understand the impact of socio-economic and health factors, including HIV/AIDS, on child schooling and health status. The thesis examines the factors contributing to an individual acquiring HIV, factors affecting child schooling and the factors having impact on child health in Kenya. Each of these studies employs the econometric tools necessary for reliable estimates. The econometric tools address issues with endogeneity, sample selection and missing data.
The thesis is comprised of five chapters with three major ones. The first Chapter gives an introduction and overview of the thesis. This chapter covers the motivation and objectives of the thesis. It also gives some historical background about Kenya. Chapter 2 examines the factors contributing to an individual acquiring HIV, with a focus on behavioural and personal characteristics, household characteristics and other socio-economic factors.
Chapter 3 deals with children’s education outcomes, specifically examining school attendance, school attainment, and rates of grade progression. The study focuses on the impact of individual and household characteristics. It incorporates the effect of socio-cultural factors as well as HIV/AIDS on child schooling. Extensive work is done on relevant econometric and statistical tools designed to address the difficulties associated with the variables used in the analysis. The discussion and conclusion gives some guidance to education policy makers in Kenya and other parts of the world which face similar conditions.