CHAN HANG SAING

    Ph.D. in Economics

    Fields: Development Economics, Applied Microeconomics, Labor Economics

    Research consultant (Health, Nutrition, and Population)

    The World Bank

    Email: chanhang07@gmail.com/chan.saing@okstate.edu/csaing@worldbank.org

Curriculum Vitae

Publications

Sex under the influence of drugs among people who use drugs in Cambodia: Findings from a national survey with Yi Siyan and colleagues, Archives of Sexual Behaviour, 2022

Prevalence and social determinants of psychological distress among people who use drugs in Cambodia with Yi Siyan and colleagues,  International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 14:77, 2020

Risk factors associated with HIV and hepatitis C virus co-infection among people who inject drugs in Cambodia with Yi Siyan and colleagues, International Journal of Drug Policy, Vol. 86:102974, 2020

The long-term impact of violent conflicts on human capital: US bombing, and education, earnings, health, fertility, and marriage in Cambodia with Harounan Kazianga, Journal of Development Studies, 56(5) 874-889, 2020

Abstract: We use combined socio-economic surveys, demographic health surveys, and intensity of bombing to estimate the long-term impacts of U.S. bombing during 1969-1973 on education, earnings, health, fertility and marriage. The novelty of this paper consists of matching each geographic district with the quantity of bombs dropped in its vicinity, thereby allowing to estimate the effects of bombing intensity in addition to the binary exposure to bombing that has been reported in previous research. We find that one standard deviation increase in bombing during 1969-1973 reduced years of schooling by about 0.11-0.23 years. The effects for men are larger than those for women. We do not find any effect on earnings and employment and health, but find a 0.20 increase in total number of births and a 0.32 decline in age at first marriage per standard deviation increase in bombs.

      Rural electrification in Cambodia: Does it improve welfare of household?

      Oxford Development Studies, 46(2) 147-163, 2018

Abstract: This study uses subsamples of socio-economic surveys from 2004 and 2011 to construct village panel data and apply the difference-in-differences (DID) method to examine the impact of rural electrification on household consumption and children's education in Cambodia at the village level. Conditional on the DID assumption and observed village and household characteristics, rural electrification increased household consumption by approximately 16.6 percent. This study also finds that higher-quintile households benefited more. Additionally, rural electrification increased boys' years of schooling completed by 0.85 and girls' years of schooling completed by 0.62. It also increased the probability of having ever been enrolled in primary school for boys by approximately 9.7 percent but did not increase the probability of having ever been enrolled for girls.

Assessing the impact of District Primary Education Program in India

with Mehtabul Azam, Review of Development Economics, 21(4) 1113-1131, 2017 

Abstract: We examine the impact of India's District Primary Education Program (DPEP) introduced in mid-1990s. We exploit the fact that the DPEP was targeted towards primary age children and was introduced in phases to different districts in India  and many of the districts never got the program to implement a difference-in-differences strategy to find causal impact of the program on probability of enrolling in primary school, probability of completing primary education, and years of school-ing. We find that DPEP program increased the probability of children attending and completing primary education by about 2 percentage points. Similarly, the program increased the total years of schooling by 0.13 years.

Is there really a trade-off? Family size and investment in child quality in India 

with Mehtabul Azam, The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy, 18(1)     

Abstract: We address the relationship between number of children and investment in child quality, known as Quantity-Quality (Q-Q) trade-off, for India. Using a number of investment and outcome measures, we find that the OLS estimates suggest presence of Q-Q trade-off. In the absence of a good instrument, we apply recently developed Oster (2016) bounds and find that there is no discernible trade-off for majority of the measures except for the years of schooling and height.

Working Paper

       Violent Conflicts and Child Health: Evidence from US Bombing in Cambodia

[9/2023]

Abstract: This study combines Cambodia’s STEPS survey and the intensity of the US bombing campaign during 1969-1973 to estimate the long-term causal impacts of in-utero and early childhood exposure to the bombing campaign on health, particularly obesity and hypertension, among Cambodian adults. Using a cohort difference-in-differences (DID) method, I find that children exposed to the bombing campaign in utero and early childhood are more likely to suffer from obesity and hypertension in adulthood than the less exposed children. Our estimates are robust to the inclusion of health-related risk behaviors, province-specific linear trends, and the atrocity inflicted by the Khmer Rouge genocide from 1975 to 1979. Our results are also robust to a placebo test of the parallel trend assumption, the alternate measure of exposure, selective mortality, and migration. I also use an instrumental variable (IV) method to correct the endogeneity problem of the bombing campaign.

The COVID-19 pandemic and alcohol consumption among adult population in Singapore: A cross-sectional study with Yi Siyan and Colleagues [9/2022]

Abstract:

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic may either increase or reduce substance use. This study examines the impact of the pandemic on changes in alcohol consumption in the adult population in Singapore.  Method: We conducted this online survey between July and November 2020 among 264 adults. We employed bivariate and multivariable logistic regression to identify factors associated with the intention to decrease alcohol use during the pandemic. Results: The two-week pre- and post-COVID-19 prevalence of alcohol use were 53.3% and 50.2%, respectively. The Chi-square tests did not indicate any significant changes in the prevalence of alcohol use in both the total sample and across sociodemographic groups. In the multivariable logistic regression model, the odds of having no intention to decrease alcohol were significantly higher among participants holding at least a master’s degree than those with high school education or lower (AOR 3.90, 95% CI 1.62-9.42). The odds of not having the intention to decrease alcohol were significantly lower among the participants aged 45+ (AOR 0.39, 95% CI 0.16-0.92), and the participants reported feeling active (AOR 0.49, 95% CI 0.26-0.91) than those aged 21-34 and those feeling less active, respectively. Conclusion: This study did not find significant changes in alcohol consumption before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that the government restrictions might have had a limited impact on alcohol use. The findings highlight the need for community psychosocial support among young adults to avoid the risk of elevated alcohol use during the pandemic.

Alcohol consumption behaviour and mental health problems in a respondent-driven sample of people who use drugs in Cambodia with Yi Siyan and Colleagues [4/2021]

Abstract:

Background: The co-occurence of substance abuse, alcohol in particular, and mental health problems among people who use drugs is one of the major global public health concerns. Study on whether mental health predicts alcohol use among people who use drugs in resource-constrained countries is scarce. Method: A respondent-driven sampling method was used to obtain a national sample of 1,320 people who reported using drugs in the past three months in Cambodia. Bivariate and multivariable multinomial logistic regression model was used to examine the association between psychological distress and alcohol use. Results: After adjustment for potential confounders, the relative probability (relative risk ratio: RRR=1.45, p-value=0.03, 96% CI: 1.05-2.07) of drinking four or more times per week over non-drinking was higher for participants with a high level of psychological distress than those with a low level of psychological distress. For male participants, their RRR for drinking at least four times per week was 1.65 (p-value=0.02, 95% CI: 1.10-2.49), while for female participants, their RRR for drinking once per month was 2.57 (p-value=0.04; 95% CI: 1.06-6.23). Conclusion: We documented for the first time the positive association between mental health problems and alcohol use behaviour among people who use drugs in a resource-limited country, Cambodia. Our findings highlight the need for mental health outreach services to people who use drugs. Meanwhile, male most-frequent drinkers and female least-frequent drinkers deserve additional family and employment support. 

 Arsenic Exposure and School Participation in Cambodia [1/2017]

       with Colin Cannonier

Abstract: We exploit the exogenous variations of arsenic contamination across regions in Cambodia and apply two-period difference-in-differences to examine the impact of arsenic-contaminated groundwater on school participation among children aged 5-17. We find that conditional on the DID assumption, a standard deviation increase in the arsenic reduced the probability of having ever been enrolled for children aged 5-17 by approximately 0.017. The effects for girls are slightly larger than those for boys. Our results are robust to adding parental education, province fixed effects, and zone trends. We also show that children of all specific age groups experienced a reduction in their probability of having ever been enrolled, while the children who were between 12 and 17 years old, currently enrolled and active in the labor market, experienced more reduction in school enrollment relative to their peers, who were not active in the labor market.

Work in Progress

Prevalence and correlates of drop-in center visits among people who inject drugs in Cambodia: Findings from a national sample survey

Teaching Experiences

University of Health Sciences (Instructor)

Master (Joint program: Universite PARIS-SACLAY & Pasteur Institute): Basic Biostatistics (Intensive online courses: March 2021 & February 2022)

Undergraduate program on Bioengineering: Basic Biostatistics (Online course: December 2021)

Oklahoma State University (Instructor)

Undergraduate: Introduction to Macroeconomics (Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Summer 2015, Fall 2015, Fall 2016)

Panhasastra University of Cambodia (Lecturer: 9/2007-4/2012)

Undergraduate: Introduction to Microeconomics, Introduction to Macroeconomics, International Economics, Development Economics