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Conference Presentation by James Lachaud, PhD

Papers by James Lachaud, PhD

Demographic Research, 2014

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND While the potential benefits for educational investment of decline in family ... more ABSTRACT BACKGROUND While the potential benefits for educational investment of decline in family size are well known, some questions have emerged on the distribution of these benefits. Do all the children in a family benefit equitably from the improved conditions brought about by limiting their number? And what are the consequences of reduction in family size for social inequalities in educational opportunity within the family? OBJECTIVE This study aims to analyze the inequalities in education between children within the same family in the context of falling fertility in Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. METHODS Inequalities in school attainment are analyzed, first in regard to family sizes and second in terms of gender, birth order, and the interactions between these two variables. Probit models are estimated and adjusted Wald F statistics with Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons are computed. RESULTS The results show that family households with fewer children exhibit different patterns of investment in children’s schooling, with lower inequalities between children by gender and birth order. At the post-primary level, however, the firstborn girls in small families appear to be less likely to be enrolled in school compared with those in large families, and also to be disadvantaged in their schooling compared to other children of small families. CONCLUSIONS Reduced fertility appears to have negative effects on the schooling of the oldest girls and beneficial effects for all other children in the household. To mitigate this disadvantage, measures should be considered to reconcile domestic work with the new opportunities emerging from expanding school systems and smaller family sizes.

Objectives Violent deaths classified as undetermined intent (UD) are sometimes included in suici... more Objectives
Violent deaths classified as undetermined intent (UD) are sometimes included in suicide counts. This study investigated age and sex differences, along with socioeconomic gradients in UD and suicide deaths in the province of Ontario between 1999 and 2012.
Methods
We used data from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, which has linked vital statistics from the Office of the Registrar General Deaths register with Census data between 1999 and 2012. Socioeconomic status was operationalised through the four dimensions of the Ontario Marginalization Index. We computed agespecific and annual age-standardised mortality rates, and risk ratios to calculate risk gradients according to each of the four dimensions of marginalization.
Results
Rates of UD-classified deaths were highest for men aged 45–64 years residing in the most materially deprived (7.9 per 100 000 population (95% CI 6.8 to 9.0)) and residentially unstable (8.1 (95% CI 7.1 to 9.1)) neighbourhoods. Similarly, suicide rates were highest among these same groups of men aged 45–64 living in the most materially deprived (28.2 (95% CI 26.1 to 30.3)) and residentially unstable (30.7 (95% CI 28.7 to 32.6)) neighbourhoods. Relative to methods of death, poisoning was the most frequently used method in UD cases (64%), while it represented the second most common method (27%) among suicides after hanging (40%).
Discussion
The similarities observed between both causes of death suggest that at least a proportion of UD deaths may be misclassified suicide cases. However, the discrepancies identified in this analysis seem to indicate that not all UD deaths are misclassified suicides.

VIII Jornadas de Sociología de la Universidad de Buenos Aires. Asociación Latinoamericana de Sociología, 2009

Este trabajo consiste en una primera tentativa de entender la lógica que rige la dinámica poblac... more Este trabajo consiste en una primera tentativa de entender la lógica que rige la dinámica poblacional. Basándose sobre el efecto combinado del crecimiento natural y del crecimiento social, como medio de ajuste o regulación que tiene una población, para asegurar su sobrevivencia física. Vamos a presentar diferentes escenarios posibles y analizarlos. Como es el caso que retiene mucho nuestra atención la situación de los países europeos con una tasa de reemplazo insuficiente para garantizar su sobrevivencia.

Conference paper with peer review, Population Association of America (PAA), 2012

Although there is an extensive literature on the unmet need for contraception in developing count... more Although there is an extensive literature on the unmet need for contraception in developing countries, and there are many policies that aim to addressing this issue, there is limited evidence of the consequences of fear of side effects on unmet needs. This paper first presents a theoretical analysis of the fear of side effects and, secondly, evaluates the impact of this fear on unmet needs for contraception using DHS data from Haiti, Bolivia and Dominican Republic. The analytical approach uses the Heckman methodology, identifies and corrects a significant selection bias in contraceptive use. Results show strong and significant impacts of fear of the side effect on unmet needs in all 3 countries. Finally, evidence suggests that fear of side effects requires attention for reducing unmet needs.

Background: Homicide – a lethal expression of violence – has garnered little attention from publi... more Background: Homicide – a lethal expression of violence – has garnered little attention from public health researchers and health policy makers, despite the fact that homicides are a cause of preventable and premature death. Identifying populations at risk and the upstream determinants of homicide are important for addressing inequalities that hinder population health. This population-based study investigates the public health significance of homicides in Ontario, Canada, over the period of 1999–2012. We quantified the relative burden of homicides by comparing the socioeconomic gradient in homicides with the leading causes of death, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and neoplasm, and estimated the potential years of life lost (PYLL) due to homicide.

This paper investigates the potential consequences of falling fertility on the reproduction of so... more This paper investigates the potential consequences of falling fertility on the reproduction of social inequalities over time. We develop a framework to understand how the fertility decline should interfere on the intergenerational transmission of disadvantages and apply it in the context of Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. We use data from the Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) of Ouagadougou, which collected retrospective data over three generations (grandmothers, mothers and children). We then use structural equation modeling (SEM) to estimate the models, and finally we conduct a sensitivity analysis to assess the consistency of our results. The results confirm that family size decline has a significant leverage on the intergenerational transmission of educational disadvantages. First, family size of mothers is significantly patterned by their grandmother's characteristics, particularly education and socioeconomic status (SES). Second, mothers with reduced family size appear to invest more in the education of their children, which should enable them to maintain their educational advantages across generations with respect to poorer and non-educated families. These results remain robust after testing alternative assumptions about SES of grandmothers. Moreover, the findings also confirm that the relationship between educational investment and family size is changing over the course of socioeconomic development. While for recent generations (mothers and children) this relationship is strongly negative, for older generations (grandmothers and mothers) it is weak, albeit positive and statistically significant. This suggests that the meaning of the quantity of children and their participation in the labor force is shifting across generations in Ouagadougou, as in most urban areas in Africa.

Questions continue to arise about the benefits and challenges of child fostering on children’s hu... more Questions continue to arise about the benefits and challenges of child fostering on children’s human capital, particularly in West Africa. For technical and operational purposes, empirical studies have generally considered fostered children as a homogeneous group, despite the well-examined complexity of this matter. This paper aims to provide a more insightful view of the potential effects of child fostering on educational outcomes in the capital city of Ouagadougou, in Burkina Faso. Beyond the comparison of children who have been fostered in the past to their own siblings, this paper analyzes the heterogeneity of child fostering by considering such factors as sex, and the kinship relationship between the foster household head and the child’s biological mother. Probit models are used with interaction terms. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the consistency of our results. The results show that a negative effect of child fostering remains, but girls who were fostered after 10 years of age appear to be most disadvantaged compared with their peers after controlling for all other factors.

Three theories have been proposed to explain the relationship between suicide and economic fluctu... more Three theories have been proposed to explain the relationship between suicide and economic fluctuations, including the Durkheim (nonlinear), Ginsberg (procyclical), and Henry and Short (countercyclical) theories. This study tested the effect of economic fluctuations, measured by unemployment rate, on suicide rates in Canada from 1926 to 2008. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) time-series models were used. The results showed a significant relationship between suicide and economic fluctuation; this association was positive during the contraction period (1926–1950) and negative in the period of economic expansion (1951–1973).
Males and females showed differential effects in the period of moderate unemployment (1974–2008). In addition, the suicide rate of mid-adults (45–64) was most impacted by economic
fluctuations. Our study tends to support Durkheim’s theory and suggests the need for public health responses in times of economic contraction and expansion.

Demographic Research, 2014

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND While the potential benefits for educational investment of decline in family ... more ABSTRACT BACKGROUND While the potential benefits for educational investment of decline in family size are well known, some questions have emerged on the distribution of these benefits. Do all the children in a family benefit equitably from the improved conditions brought about by limiting their number? And what are the consequences of reduction in family size for social inequalities in educational opportunity within the family? OBJECTIVE This study aims to analyze the inequalities in education between children within the same family in the context of falling fertility in Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. METHODS Inequalities in school attainment are analyzed, first in regard to family sizes and second in terms of gender, birth order, and the interactions between these two variables. Probit models are estimated and adjusted Wald F statistics with Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons are computed. RESULTS The results show that family households with fewer children exhibit different patterns of investment in children’s schooling, with lower inequalities between children by gender and birth order. At the post-primary level, however, the firstborn girls in small families appear to be less likely to be enrolled in school compared with those in large families, and also to be disadvantaged in their schooling compared to other children of small families. CONCLUSIONS Reduced fertility appears to have negative effects on the schooling of the oldest girls and beneficial effects for all other children in the household. To mitigate this disadvantage, measures should be considered to reconcile domestic work with the new opportunities emerging from expanding school systems and smaller family sizes.

Objectives Violent deaths classified as undetermined intent (UD) are sometimes included in suici... more Objectives
Violent deaths classified as undetermined intent (UD) are sometimes included in suicide counts. This study investigated age and sex differences, along with socioeconomic gradients in UD and suicide deaths in the province of Ontario between 1999 and 2012.
Methods
We used data from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, which has linked vital statistics from the Office of the Registrar General Deaths register with Census data between 1999 and 2012. Socioeconomic status was operationalised through the four dimensions of the Ontario Marginalization Index. We computed agespecific and annual age-standardised mortality rates, and risk ratios to calculate risk gradients according to each of the four dimensions of marginalization.
Results
Rates of UD-classified deaths were highest for men aged 45–64 years residing in the most materially deprived (7.9 per 100 000 population (95% CI 6.8 to 9.0)) and residentially unstable (8.1 (95% CI 7.1 to 9.1)) neighbourhoods. Similarly, suicide rates were highest among these same groups of men aged 45–64 living in the most materially deprived (28.2 (95% CI 26.1 to 30.3)) and residentially unstable (30.7 (95% CI 28.7 to 32.6)) neighbourhoods. Relative to methods of death, poisoning was the most frequently used method in UD cases (64%), while it represented the second most common method (27%) among suicides after hanging (40%).
Discussion
The similarities observed between both causes of death suggest that at least a proportion of UD deaths may be misclassified suicide cases. However, the discrepancies identified in this analysis seem to indicate that not all UD deaths are misclassified suicides.

VIII Jornadas de Sociología de la Universidad de Buenos Aires. Asociación Latinoamericana de Sociología, 2009

Este trabajo consiste en una primera tentativa de entender la lógica que rige la dinámica poblac... more Este trabajo consiste en una primera tentativa de entender la lógica que rige la dinámica poblacional. Basándose sobre el efecto combinado del crecimiento natural y del crecimiento social, como medio de ajuste o regulación que tiene una población, para asegurar su sobrevivencia física. Vamos a presentar diferentes escenarios posibles y analizarlos. Como es el caso que retiene mucho nuestra atención la situación de los países europeos con una tasa de reemplazo insuficiente para garantizar su sobrevivencia.

Conference paper with peer review, Population Association of America (PAA), 2012

Although there is an extensive literature on the unmet need for contraception in developing count... more Although there is an extensive literature on the unmet need for contraception in developing countries, and there are many policies that aim to addressing this issue, there is limited evidence of the consequences of fear of side effects on unmet needs. This paper first presents a theoretical analysis of the fear of side effects and, secondly, evaluates the impact of this fear on unmet needs for contraception using DHS data from Haiti, Bolivia and Dominican Republic. The analytical approach uses the Heckman methodology, identifies and corrects a significant selection bias in contraceptive use. Results show strong and significant impacts of fear of the side effect on unmet needs in all 3 countries. Finally, evidence suggests that fear of side effects requires attention for reducing unmet needs.

Background: Homicide – a lethal expression of violence – has garnered little attention from publi... more Background: Homicide – a lethal expression of violence – has garnered little attention from public health researchers and health policy makers, despite the fact that homicides are a cause of preventable and premature death. Identifying populations at risk and the upstream determinants of homicide are important for addressing inequalities that hinder population health. This population-based study investigates the public health significance of homicides in Ontario, Canada, over the period of 1999–2012. We quantified the relative burden of homicides by comparing the socioeconomic gradient in homicides with the leading causes of death, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and neoplasm, and estimated the potential years of life lost (PYLL) due to homicide.

This paper investigates the potential consequences of falling fertility on the reproduction of so... more This paper investigates the potential consequences of falling fertility on the reproduction of social inequalities over time. We develop a framework to understand how the fertility decline should interfere on the intergenerational transmission of disadvantages and apply it in the context of Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. We use data from the Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) of Ouagadougou, which collected retrospective data over three generations (grandmothers, mothers and children). We then use structural equation modeling (SEM) to estimate the models, and finally we conduct a sensitivity analysis to assess the consistency of our results. The results confirm that family size decline has a significant leverage on the intergenerational transmission of educational disadvantages. First, family size of mothers is significantly patterned by their grandmother's characteristics, particularly education and socioeconomic status (SES). Second, mothers with reduced family size appear to invest more in the education of their children, which should enable them to maintain their educational advantages across generations with respect to poorer and non-educated families. These results remain robust after testing alternative assumptions about SES of grandmothers. Moreover, the findings also confirm that the relationship between educational investment and family size is changing over the course of socioeconomic development. While for recent generations (mothers and children) this relationship is strongly negative, for older generations (grandmothers and mothers) it is weak, albeit positive and statistically significant. This suggests that the meaning of the quantity of children and their participation in the labor force is shifting across generations in Ouagadougou, as in most urban areas in Africa.

Questions continue to arise about the benefits and challenges of child fostering on children’s hu... more Questions continue to arise about the benefits and challenges of child fostering on children’s human capital, particularly in West Africa. For technical and operational purposes, empirical studies have generally considered fostered children as a homogeneous group, despite the well-examined complexity of this matter. This paper aims to provide a more insightful view of the potential effects of child fostering on educational outcomes in the capital city of Ouagadougou, in Burkina Faso. Beyond the comparison of children who have been fostered in the past to their own siblings, this paper analyzes the heterogeneity of child fostering by considering such factors as sex, and the kinship relationship between the foster household head and the child’s biological mother. Probit models are used with interaction terms. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the consistency of our results. The results show that a negative effect of child fostering remains, but girls who were fostered after 10 years of age appear to be most disadvantaged compared with their peers after controlling for all other factors.

Three theories have been proposed to explain the relationship between suicide and economic fluctu... more Three theories have been proposed to explain the relationship between suicide and economic fluctuations, including the Durkheim (nonlinear), Ginsberg (procyclical), and Henry and Short (countercyclical) theories. This study tested the effect of economic fluctuations, measured by unemployment rate, on suicide rates in Canada from 1926 to 2008. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) time-series models were used. The results showed a significant relationship between suicide and economic fluctuation; this association was positive during the contraction period (1926–1950) and negative in the period of economic expansion (1951–1973).
Males and females showed differential effects in the period of moderate unemployment (1974–2008). In addition, the suicide rate of mid-adults (45–64) was most impacted by economic
fluctuations. Our study tends to support Durkheim’s theory and suggests the need for public health responses in times of economic contraction and expansion.