ESSAYS IN THE ECONOMICS OF HEALTH EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: EVIDENCE FROM VIETNAM

Abstract

Health education is widely implemented in school settings to prevent risky health behaviors of teenagers. The majority of the information-based programs target adolescents, when individuals’ health attitudes and behaviors are formed. In particular, schools are a vital place to implement a health education program to reach a large number of teenagers for years in a financially sustainable and logistically convenient way. However, a body of empirical studies finds limited effects on behavioral changes. My dissertation exploits randomized controlled trials in Vietnam to investigate a school-based health education intervention. In the first two chapters of my dissertation, I examine the effects of health education on adolescents’ health outcomes. The first chapter explores multidimensional health domains, including health behaviors and psychological health factors. In the second chapter, I focus on sexual and reproductive health education to assess to which extent health education affects teenagers by evaluating the effects on health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. In health education programs, classroom observation is often employed to improve the quality of teaching. However, its implications on students’ learning in sensitive health topics are understudied. Against this background, in my third chapter, I investigate whether and how the presence of an observer affects students’ learning in sexual and reproductive health education.