The Effect of Household Technology on Child Health: Evidence from China’s “Home Appliances Going to the Countryside” Policy
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Background
2.1. China’s “Home Appliances Going to the Countryside” Policy
2.2. Conceptual Framework
3. Data, Variables, and Method
3.1. Data
3.2. Variables
3.2.1. Dependent Variables
3.2.2. Independent Variables
3.2.3. Control Variables
3.3. Estimation Strategy: Difference-in-Differences
4. Results
4.1. Summary of Statistics
4.2. Baseline Results
4.3. Test for Parallel Trends Assumption
4.4. Placebo Test
4.5. Robustness Checks
4.6. Heterogeneity Analysis
4.7. Mechanism Analysis
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Variable | Abbreviation | Description |
---|---|---|
Dependent variable | ||
HAZ score | HAZ | Continuous variable |
WAZ score | WAZ | Continuous variable |
BAZ score | BAZ | Continuous variable |
Self-rated health | SRH | 1 = Poor;2 = Fair;3 = Good;4 = Excellent |
Independent variables | ||
Whether a child’s household was in a rural area | Rural | 1 = rural area; otherwise, 0 |
Whether the survey year was 2009 or later | Post | 1 = 2009 or later; otherwise 0 |
Control variables | ||
Age in years | Age | Continuous variable |
Child education in years | Education | Continuous variable |
Medical insurance | Insurance | 1 = with access to Insurance; otherwise, 0 |
Sleep time in hours | Sleep time | Continuous variable |
Flushing toilet availability | Toilet | 1 = available flush toilet; 0 = otherwise |
Tap water availability | Water | 1 = available tap water; 0 = otherwise |
Household income | Ln(income) | Continuous variable, inflated to Chinese CNY in 2015 |
Parents’ housework time in hours | P_H time | Continuous variable |
Do parents smoke | P_Smoke | 1 = at least one parent smoked; 0 = otherwise |
Parental average education in years | P_Education | Continuous variable |
Path variables | ||
Parents’ child-care time in hours | P_C time | Continuous variable |
Color TV ownership | Color TV | 1 = Own Color TV; 0 = otherwise |
Washing machine ownership | Washing machine | 1 = Own Washing machine; 0 = otherwise |
Refrigerator ownership | Refrigerator | 1 = Own Refrigerator; 0 = otherwise |
Average three-day energy intake | Kcal | Continuous variable |
Average three-day carbohydrate intake | Carbohydrate | Continuous variable |
Average three-day fat intake | Fat | Continuous variable |
Average three-day protein intake | Protein | Continuous variable |
Before | After | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rural | Urban | Rural | Urban | |||||
Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | |
Dependent variable | ||||||||
HAZ | −0.25 | 0.92 | −0.06 | 0.95 | 0.13 | 1.02 | 0.27 | 1.00 |
WAZ | −0.09 | 0.73 | 0.10 | 0.84 | 0.32 | 1.15 | 0.35 | 1.12 |
BAZ | 0.05 | 0.70 | 0.16 | 0.81 | 0.30 | 1.14 | 0.38 | 1.20 |
SRH | 2.05 | 1.24 | 2.13 | 1.37 | 2.34 | 1.74 | 2.23 | 1.40 |
Control variables | ||||||||
Age | 10.13 | 4.84 | 10.99 | 4.95 | 8.34 | 4.95 | 9.39 | 5.07 |
Education | 9.52 | 5.40 | 12.15 | 5.81 | 11.73 | 13.02 | 18.00 | 6.31 |
Insurance | 0.23 | 0.42 | 0.25 | 0.43 | 0.90 | 0.30 | 0.88 | 0.33 |
Sleep time | 9.51 | 1.74 | 9.07 | 1.71 | 9.49 | 1.80 | 9.21 | 1.83 |
Toilet | 0.26 | 0.44 | 0.64 | 0.48 | 0.57 | 0.50 | 0.86 | 0.34 |
Water | 0.60 | 0.49 | 0.89 | 0.31 | 0.79 | 0.41 | 0.96 | 0.20 |
Ln(income) | 9.67 | 0.92 | 9.99 | 0.98 | 10.52 | 1.08 | 10.75 | 1.16 |
P_H time | 81.32 | 63.47 | 104.82 | 81.34 | 140.78 | 104.55 | 184.97 | 132.54 |
P_Smoke | 0.01 | 0.11 | 0.01 | 0.10 | 0.00 | 0.05 | 0.01 | 0.10 |
P_Education | 18.53 | 6.04 | 21.41 | 6.28 | 21.20 | 5.73 | 25.15 | 5.82 |
Path variables | ||||||||
P_C time | 10.11 | 44.41 | 12.08 | 48.18 | 21.97 | 42.00 | 20.15 | 44.60 |
Color TV | 0.75 | 0.43 | 0.89 | 0.31 | 0.98 | 0.13 | 0.99 | 0.09 |
Washing machine | 0.55 | 0.50 | 0.74 | 0.44 | 0.84 | 0.36 | 0.92 | 0.27 |
Refrigerator | 0.31 | 0.46 | 0.62 | 0.48 | 0.78 | 0.42 | 0.90 | 0.31 |
Kcal | 1727.92 | 672.65 | 1811.72 | 682.24 | 1517.73 | 619.60 | 1543.99 | 609.51 |
Carbohydrate | 264.10 | 107.48 | 245.85 | 100.12 | 210.87 | 89.78 | 190.52 | 85.17 |
Fat | 51.68 | 33.79 | 65.49 | 36.32 | 53.24 | 34.59 | 61.50 | 32.30 |
Protein | 51.47 | 21.76 | 59.47 | 27.85 | 48.56 | 21.11 | 56.67 | 24.22 |
Observations | 1.423 | 1.216 | 1.308 | 1.138 |
Variables | (1) | (2) | (3) |
---|---|---|---|
HAZ | WAZ | BAZ | |
Rural × Post | 0.059 ** | 0.083 *** | 0.069 ** |
(0.029) | (0.030) | (0.031) | |
Age | −0.086 *** | −0.064 *** | −0.025 *** |
(0.007) | (0.008) | (0.008) | |
Education | 0.042 *** | 0.023 *** | 0.002 |
(0.005) | (0.005) | (0.005) | |
Insurance | 0.109 *** | 0.073 ** | 0.024 |
(0.030) | (0.032) | (0.032) | |
Sleep time | −0.064 *** | −0.060 *** | −0.029 ** |
(0.011) | (0.012) | (0.012) | |
Water | 0.008 | 0.010 | 0.012 |
(0.034) | (0.036) | (0.037) | |
Toilet | 0.165 *** | 0.179 *** | 0.116 *** |
(0.031) | (0.032) | (0.033) | |
Ln(income) | 0.021 * | 0.013 | 0.007 |
(0.012) | (0.013) | (0.013) | |
P_H time | 0.000 | 0.000 * | 0.000 |
(0.000) | (0.000) | (0.000) | |
P_Smoke | −0.342 *** | 0.020 | −0.290 ** |
(0.126) | (0.132) | (0.136) | |
P_Education | 0.018 *** | 0.018 *** | 0.012 *** |
(0.003) | (0.003) | (0.003) | |
Constant | 0.100 | 0.373 ** | 0.287 |
(0.176) | (0.185) | (0.189) | |
R-squared | 0.081 | 0.061 | 0.023 |
Observations | 5.085 | 5.085 | 5.085 |
Alternative Health | Alternative Model (PSM–DID) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
(1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | |
SRH | HAZ | WAZ | BAZ | |
Rural × Post | 0.141 *** | |||
(0.051) | ||||
Pilot × After | 0.099 * | 0.087 * | 0.167 *** | |
(0.051) | (0.046) | (0.056) | ||
Constant | 2.985 *** | −0.010 | 0.100 *** | 0.282 *** |
(0.318) | (0.029) | (0.027) | (0.031) | |
Control variables | Y | Y | Y | Y |
R-squared | 0.011 | 0.140 | 0.002 | 0.811 |
Observations | 4.797 | 1.562 | 1.562 | 1.540 |
Boys | Girls | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | |
HAZ | WAZ | BAZ | HAZ | WAZ | BAZ | |
Rural × Post | 0.035 | 0.066 | 0.052 | 0.077 * | 0.093 ** | 0.078 * |
(0.039) | (0.041) | (0.042) | (0.043) | (0.045) | (0.046) | |
Constant | 0.001 | 0.108 | −0.015 | 0.278 | 0.689 ** | 0.638 ** |
(0.238) | (0.250) | (0.255) | (0.264) | (0.276) | (0.284) | |
Control variables | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
R-squared | 0.080 | 0.066 | 0.029 | 0.084 | 0.061 | 0.023 |
Observations | 2.716 | 2.716 | 2.716 | 2.369 | 2.369 | 2.369 |
Age < 12 | Age > 12 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | |
HAZ | WAZ | BAZ | HAZ | WAZ | BAZ | |
Rural × Post | 0.044 | 0.055 | 0.052 | 0.108 ** | 0.145 *** | 0.110 ** |
(0.041) | (0.042) | (0.043) | (0.047) | (0.049) | (0.050) | |
Constant | −0.190 | 0.010 | −0.035 | −1.225 *** | −0.385 | 0.128 |
(0.248) | (0.258) | (0.259) | (0.286) | (0.301) | (0.307) | |
Control variables | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
R-squared | 0.058 | 0.054 | 0.025 | 0.073 | 0.039 | 0.012 |
Observations | 2.564 | 2.564 | 2.564 | 2.099 | 2.099 | 2.099 |
(1) | (2) | |
---|---|---|
P_H Time | P_C Time | |
Rural × Post | −13.854 ** | 5.949 *** |
(6.643) | (0.465) | |
Constant | 124.753 *** | 6.705 *** |
(2.291) | (0.259) | |
Control variables | Y | Y |
R-squared | 0.587 | 0.022 |
Observations | 5.085 | 5.085 |
(1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kcal | Carbohydrate | Fat | Protein | |
Rural × Post | 143.138 *** | 21.570 *** | 5.605 ** | 14.667 *** |
(46.808) | (7.015) | (2.711) | (0.968) | |
Constant | 1,628.123 *** | 233.022 *** | 54.160 *** | 49.036 *** |
(12.483) | (1.871) | (0.723) | (0.344) | |
Control variables | Y | Y | Y | Y |
R-squared | 0.635 | 0.640 | 0.573 | 0.593 |
Observations | 5.085 | 5.085 | 5.085 | 5.085 |
(1) | (2) | (3) | |
---|---|---|---|
HAZ | HAZ | BAZ | |
TV_color | 0.050 | −0.037 | −0.048 |
(0.060) | (0.063) | (0.064) | |
Washing_machine | 0.131 *** | 0.084 ** | 0.017 * |
(0.036) | (0.037) | (0.038) | |
Refrigerator | 0.199 *** | 0.259 *** | 0.216 *** |
(0.033) | (0.035) | (0.036) | |
Constant | 0.131 | 0.495 *** | 0.407 ** |
(0.180) | (0.189) | (0.195) | |
Control variables | Y | Y | Y |
R-squared | 0.094 | 0.075 | 0.100 |
Observations | 5085 | 5085 | 5085 |
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Shi, J.; Wang, F.; Wang, H. The Effect of Household Technology on Child Health: Evidence from China’s “Home Appliances Going to the Countryside” Policy. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 11976. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191911976
Shi J, Wang F, Wang H. The Effect of Household Technology on Child Health: Evidence from China’s “Home Appliances Going to the Countryside” Policy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(19):11976. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191911976
Chicago/Turabian StyleShi, Junhui, Fang Wang, and Huan Wang. 2022. "The Effect of Household Technology on Child Health: Evidence from China’s “Home Appliances Going to the Countryside” Policy" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 19: 11976. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191911976