Person: Hou, Xiaohui
Health, Nutrition and Population, East Asia and Pacific Region, World Bank
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health economics; social safety nets; poverty
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Health, Nutrition and Population, East Asia and Pacific Region, World Bank
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Last updated: June 4, 2024
Biography
Hou, Xiaohui is a Senior Economist in the World Bank. Joined as a Young Professional, she has since worked in Human Development department and Poverty Reduction and Economic Management department across the East Europe and Central Asia region, the South Asia region, and most recently the East Asia and Pacific region. She also spent a number of years in the World Bank Institute, the capacity building arm of the World Bank, focusing on face to face training and network development. Her fields include health economics, social safety net, labor economics and impact evaluation. She has published a dozen of papers in both economics and medical peer reviewed journals. She also teaches as a visiting scholar. A Peking University graduate, she obtained her Ph.D. in the Health Services and Policy Analysis and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master’s degree in Health Policy and Administration from the Washington State University.
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Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
Publication The Impact of the Food Price Crisis on Consumption and Caloric Availability in Pakistan : Evidence from Repeated Cross-sectional and Panel Data(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-11) Hong, Seo Yeon; Friedman, Jed; Hou, Xiaohui; Hong, Seo YeonWelfare losses from the 2008 food price crisis in Pakistan are deepening the gap between poor and non poor populations and further increasing inequality between the provinces. To estimate welfare losses, the reduction in caloric availability at household level is measured. The analysis of calorie intake by source supports the notion that rural households were shielded from the worst effects of the crisis by their capacity to grow their own food. Compensating variation estimates suggest that the average household would need 38 percent of its total precrisis expenditure to maintain precrisis consumption levels. The impact of the food price crisis (measured as the percentage of total expenditure required to restore consumption to the precrisis level) peaked at the end of 2008 to twice as high as at the start of the year. Average household caloric availability fell by almost 8 percent between 2006 and first half of 2008. Urban households were relatively worse off than rural households during the crisis. Income gains from sales of agricultural commodities produced by rural households presumably offset the negative impact of the food crisis to some degree. The drawdown of assets over 2008-10 was another important coping mechanism, especially for households without access to land.Publication Empowering Women : The Effect of Women’s Decision-Making Power on Reproductive Health Services Uptake - Evidence from Pakistan(2011-01-01) Ma, Ning; Hou, XiaohuiA large body of research has attempted to explore the links between women's autonomy and their uptake of reproductive health services in the South Asia region, but the evidence so far is inconclusive. This study uses the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey to examine the influence of household decision making on women's uptake of reproductive health services. The analysis finds that women's decision-making power has a significant positive correlation with reproductive health services uptake and that influential males' decision-making power has the opposite effect, after controlling for socio-economic indicators and supply-side conditions. The findings suggest that empowering women and increasing their ability to make decisions may increase their uptake of reproductive health services. They also suggest that policies directed toward improving women's utilization of maternity services must target men as well as women in Pakistan.Publication Wealth : Crucial but Not Sufficient Evidence from Pakistan on Economic Growth, Child Labor, and Schooling(2009-02-01) Hou, XiaohuiThe relationship between wealth and child labor has been widely examined. This paper uses three rounds of time-series, cross-sectional data to examine the relationship between wealth and child labor and schooling. The paper finds that wealth is crucial in determining a child's activities, but that this factor is far from being a sufficient condition to enroll a child in school. This is particularly the case for rural girls. Nonparametric analysis shows a universal increase in school enrollment for rural girls from 1998 to 2006. This increase is independent of wealth (measured by per capita expenditure). Multinomial logit regression further shows that wealth is insignificant in determining rural girls' activity decisions. Thus, interventions to increase school enrollment should incorporate broad-targeted, demand-side interventions as well as supply-side interventions.Publication Challenges for Youth Employment in Pakistan : Are They Youth-Specific?(2011-01-01) Hou, XiaohuiThis paper analyzes the patterns of and the challenges for youth employment in Pakistan and examines whether these challenges are youth-specific. Using the 2005/2006 Labor Force Survey, the analysis includes determinants of unemployment, determinants of working in the formal sector, rate of return on education, and determinants of working hours. The paper finds that many of the challenges to youth employment in Pakistan are not youth-specific. Policies should thus emphasize broader labor market reforms, even in the context of tackling youth employment issues. Still, some challenges are youth-specific, such as a higher youth unemployment rate and insufficient returns to better-educated youth. To address these challenges, more youth-specific interventions are needed.Publication The Heterogeneous Effects of a Food Price Crisis on Child School Enrollment and Labor : Evidence from Pakistan(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-08) Hong, Seo Yeon; Hou, Xiaohui; Hong, Seo YeonUsing a panel survey, this paper investigates how the increase in food prices in Pakistan in 2008-2010 affected children's school enrollment and labor. The causal identification relies on geographical variations in the price of food (wheat). The results show that the negative impacts of food price increase on school enrollment differ by gender, economic status, and the presence of siblings. The negative effects on school do not directly correspond to the increase in child labor because the transition from being idle to labor activity or from school to being idle are significant, particularly among the poor girls. The results also show that children in households with access to agricultural land are not affected by higher food prices. The analyses reveal a more dynamic picture of the impact of food price increase on child status and contribute to broader policy discussion to mitigate the impact of crises on children's education.Publication Women’s Decision Making Power and Human Development : Evidence from Pakistan(2011-10-01) Hou, XiaohuiWhen deciding who should receive welfare benefits with the aim to increase household well-being, it is necessary to understand the effects of the distribution of power within the households at which the aid is directed. Two primary household models have been used to study intra-household bargaining and decision making: the unitary model and the collective model. The unitary model seems to fit Pakistan's context because the prevailing traditional culture positions the male head as the household decision maker. However, using a set of direct measures of decision-making power from the Pakistan Social and Living Standard Measurement Survey, this study finds that even in a country where men seem to have more power than women, the collective household bargaining model applies. This study also finds that, in Pakistan, when women have more decision-making power at home, households tend to spend more on women's preferred goods (such as clothing and education), family members eat more non-grain food items, and children, particularly girls, are more likely to be enrolled in school.Publication Learning from Economic Downturns : How to Better Assess, Track, and Mitigate the Impact on the Health Sector(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013-10-03) Hou, Xiaohui; Yazbeck, Abdo S.; Smith, OwenMany countries around the world are moving toward universal health coverage, while navigating through periods of economic crisis. The impact of the economic downturn of 2008-09 on the health care sector has renewed efforts to make health systems more resilient during and after economic downturns. Health policy makers and development practitioners are grappling with how to better identify areas that make the health sector vulnerable to economic downturns, and how to track and mitigate the impact of economic downturns. To effectively manage the challenges resulting from economic uncertainty, the health sector must look at recent failures and successes as a learning opportunity for improvement, with the end result being greater health system resilience. This book, financed by the rapid social response program at the World Bank, responds to these challenges facing the health sector. It introduces a framework for assessing, tracking, and mitigating (A.T.M. framework) the impact of economic downturns on the health sector. This framework provides policy makers and practitioners in the health sector with a more systematic way to design and implement policies that can protect people, particularly the poor, from the negative effects of economic downturns. This book illustrates the benefit of implementing rapid surveys to track the impacts of crises in real time as economies shrink, and emphasizes the importance of building effective health information systems that can regularly monitor system changes. Analysis of several country case studies in developing countries sheds light on the importance of linking the health sector with the social protection sector, particularly social safety nets, using the common identification and targeting methods to reach the poor and the vulnerable. The more recent lessons from several European Union (EU) countries emphasize the importance of political economy in implementing policy reforms during economic downturns and again illustrate how the data can help facilitate more evidence-based policy making.