Adult Mortality and the Long-Run Impact on Households

Kathleen Beegle, World Bank Group
Joachim De Weerdt, Economic Development Initiatives (EDI)
Stefan Dercon, University of Oxford

The goal of this study is to understand how households are affected in the long-run by health shocks due to HIV/AIDS, drawing on analysis of a 2004 re-survey of the panel of respondents originally surveyed in the Kagera region of Tanzania in 1991-1994. This study will add to our understanding of coping processes and long-term outcomes of this major health shock and address important questions: Do long-run coping mechanisms differ from short-run adjustments? Are some types of households buffered from shocks more than others? Does AIDS increase poverty despite short-run coping and is AIDS a poverty trap for future generations?