Hans-Peter Kohler, University of Pennsylvania
| When |
Sep 14, 2020
from 12:00 PM to 01:00 PM |
|---|---|
| Where | Online via Zoom |
| Contact Name | Jennifer Doiron |
| Contact Phone | 301-405-6403 |
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About the Presentation for the Fall 2020 MPRC Online Seminar Series
Individuals in low-income settings are often overly pessimistic about their own survival, suggesting that better knowledge about survival risks might encourage investments in health. This paper provides evidence from a randomized experiment that provided mature adults aged 45+ in Malawi with information about mortality risks. Treated individuals are less likely to engage in risky sexual practices one year after the intervention, and they increase other forward-looking behaviors such as investments in agriculture. Potential implications of survival (mis)perceptions for responses to the Covid-19 pandemic are explored.
About the Speaker
H-P Kohler is the F.J. Warren Professor of Demography and Director of the Population Aging Research Center (PARC) at the University of Pennsylvania. His current research focuses on health and aging in low-income contexts, and he has long-standing interests also in low fertility, social and sexual networks, global family change and demographic methods. He has been awarded the Clifford C. Clogg Award for Early Career Achievement by the Population Association of America, and have been honored with the Otis Dudley Duncan Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Social Demography by the American Sociological Association.
Note: Zoom link for registration. Upon registration you will receive an automatically generated email with the link for the seminar.