Public expenditures on family-specific benefits, governance and child health outcomes

Lower child mortality may imply a higher rate of return to education, namely investments in human capital which is the prime engine for the economic growth. As Noble-laureate Amartya Sen convincingly argues that child mortality is an important indicator of economic success since being alive is already a necessary condition for our capabilities and it is helpful in the formulation of the public policy decisions. In other words, it is a good measure to understand how governments are successful and effective in public resource allocation(Sen98). Public spending on family-specific benefits are one of the public social welfare programmes which are implemented with distributional concerns. They are mainly designed to support families for childbearing and childrearing activities (e.g childcare, schooling). The two most important public spending categories amongst family-specific policies are family allowances and the parental leave benefits. Family allowances and the parental leave benefits are mainly designed for the children’s well-being and the quality of life. This dissertation touches on the links between family-specific policies, the governance of public resource allocation and the child health outcomes across OECD countries.The dissertation is composed of three main chapters.