Research
Embedded Files
Submitted papers
The Intergenerational Health Effects of Child Marriage Bans (Lead author with Prof. Teresa Molina, Prof. Yoko Ibuka, and Prof. Rei Goto) Accepted for publication at Journal of Health Economics. Presented at NBER, University of Connecticut, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2023 JEA, Hitotsubashi University, Sophia University, Essen Health Conference, the 14th Japan-Taiwan-Korea Health Economics Association Joint Conference, and Economic Colloquium (Hannover University).
Using a sample of over 200,000 women across 18 countries, we investigate the effects of child marriage bans on infant and under-5 mortality rates of the next generation. We exploit variation in mothers’ exposure to the ban across cohorts within each country, as well as subnational regional variation in “treatment intensity,” which we define based on the prevalence of and average age among child marriages prior to the ban. We find that child marriage bans reduced infant and under-5 mortality, with magnitudes of 14.3 and 19.9 percent corresponding to a one standard deviation change in treatment intensity, respectively. Reductions were driven by low-income countries and less wealthy households. Increases in age at first marriage and first birth, which may have led to better bargaining power and agency for these mothers during the prenatal and postnatal period, appear to be the main drivers of the mortality reductions documented.
Re-examining the Impact of Maternal Education on Child Mortality: Evidence From an Increase Tuition Fee Policy in Vietnam (Lead author) - Under review by International Journal of Educational Development
Reducing child mortality is highlighted as one of the most important indicators of Millennium Development Goals. The World Bank has stated that “there is no investment more effective for achieving development goals than educating girls”. Whether maternal education improves child health is an important policy question. We revisit the paper by Phung-Nguyen (2023) (International Journal of Educational Development 96: 102704) who find that maternal education reduced neonatal, infant, and under-five mortality in Vietnam. She uses exposure to the introduction of tuition fee policy in1989 as an exogenous variation and using it to instrument for maternal education. We aimed to replicate her findings since the effect sizes of maternal education found in her paper are enormous. Using the same data and policy, we found no effect of maternal education on child mortality. Our result holds even when we use an alternative data for robustness checks.
Income-Related Inequalities in the top Common Chronic Diseases Among Vietnamese Older People (Lead author with Prof. Long Giang, Dr. Thu Bui, Van Truong, and Anh To) - Under review by Ageing & Society
While multi-morbidity prevalence among older adults is high, research has primarily focused on its socioeconomic determinants, neglecting socioeconomic-related inequalities in the most common chronic diseases. This study aimed to address this gap by examining income-related inequalities in the top three chronic diseases (arthritis, blood pressure, and heart disease) among Vietnamese older adults. We used data from the 2019 Vietnam National Aging Survey (N=2,200) with concentration index (CI) and regression-based decomposition techniques. The prevalence of experiencing all three diseases was significantly higher among low-income individuals (CI=-0.069, p<0.05). Decomposition analysis revealed that income, self-rated health, and financial transfers from children were the main drivers of the observed inequality, contributing approximately 27.6%, 16.7%, and 14%, respectively. Findings of this study provides valuable evidence for policymakers aiming to address health inequalities in chronic diseases among older adults since such inequalities can lead to long-term challenges in accessing healthcare and potentially contribute to rising healthcare costs.
Working papers
The effects of public health insurance on healthcare expenditures among older beneficiaries in Vietnam: RD-DID approach (Lead author with Prof. Rei Goto and Prof. Yoko Ibuka)
This paper evaluates the effects of changes in health insurance co-payment rates stipulated in the 2009 Health Insurance Law on healthcare expenditures and utilization by older pensioners in Vietnam. We adopt the most current appropriate econometric techniques in health economics to model healthcare data and then we exploit the enactment of the 2009 Law as a natural experiment to conduct a quasi-experiment study using RD-DID estimations. Using data from the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey 2004-2014, we found that the effects of the 2009 Law, based on the best-fitting models for healthcare expenditure and utilization outcomes, were a significant increase in healthcare spending for both outpatient and the total healthcare expenditures, while the number of outpatient and inpatient visits were found to be significantly increased across levels of healthcare facilities. The results of this study suggest the ex-ante moral hazard in the use of healthcare whereby individuals who are offered a lower rate of co-payment tend to use more care.
Peer-reviewed publications
Economic & Quasi-Experimental Papers
Le, D. D., & Giang, T. L. (2025). Water quality and child undernutrition: evidence from 29 low- and middle-income countries and territories. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.24.292682 (IF=8.4).
Le, D. D., & Giang, T. L. (2025). Causal effects of elder abuse on depression: a longitudinal analysis in Vietnam. Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect. https://doi.org/10.1080/08946566.2025.2516681 (IF=1.8).
Le, D. D., & Giang, T. L. (2025). Does Retirement Improve Cognitive Functioning? Causal Evidence From Vietnam. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaf102 (IF=4.8).
Le, D. D., & Giang, T. L. (2025). The intergenerational effects of intimate partner violence on child development. Children and Youth Services Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108254 (IF=2.4).
Le, D. D., & Giang, T. L. (2025). The impact of retirement on long-term care choices among older persons in Vietnam. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2025.2467210 (IF=1.9).
Le, D, D., Nguyen, T. M., & Ibuka, Y. (2024) Intergenerational effects of education on child mortality: Evidence from the compulsory primary schooling law in Vietnam. World Development. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2024.106810 (IF=5.4). Previously presented at: the 3rd AWEHE, the 2021 JEA Autumn Meeting, the 2023 VEAM, Keio Applied Economics Workshop, Sophia Economics Seminar.
Le, D. D., & Giang, T. L. (2024). The Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Healthcare Utilization: Evidence From Vietnam. Review of Economics of the Household. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-024-09751-4 (IF=5.1).
Le, D. D., & Giang, T. L. (2024). The Effects of Caring for Grandchildren on Health and Well-being of Grandparents: Evidence from Vietnam. Asian Social Work and Policy Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/aswp.12328 (IF=1.3).
Le, D. D., Dang, N. H. T., & Giang, T. L. (2024). The Effects of Spousal Caregiving on Middle-Age and Older Caregivers’ Health and Well-Being: Evidence From Vietnam. Research on Aging. https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027524126362 (IF=3.1).
Fu, R., Le, D. D., & Ibuka, Y. (2024). The impact of reducing formal care benefits on caregivers’ well-being: evidence from Japan. Review of Economics of the Household. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-024-09699-5 (IF=5.1).
Le, D. D., & Ibuka, Y. (2022). Understanding the effect of informal caregiving on health and well-being: mechanisms and heterogeneity. Social Science & Medicine 317: 115630. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115630 (IF=5.4)
Featured in the Pen-mark
Public Health Papers
Dang, N. H. T., & Le, D. D. (2024). Socioeconomic Inequalities in Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from Vietnam. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605241245375 (Corresponding author) (IF=2.7).
Giang, T. L., Bui, D. T., Le, D. D., Nguyen, T. V., & To, L. A. 2024. The Mediating Role of Social Support on Unmet Healthcare Needs in Vietnamese Older People During the COVID-19. INQUIRY. https://doi.org/10.1177/00469580241304247 (IF=2.0).
Dang, N. H. T., & Le, D. D. (2024). Explaining socioeconomic inequality in depression among older people: A comparison between Vietnam and Myanmar. Journal of Population Ageing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12062-024-09459-4 (IF=1.8).
Ando, T., Ibuka, Y., Goto, R., Haruta, J., Le, D. D., & Fujishima, S. (2024). Letter to the Editor of Public Health in response to “Effect of influenza vaccine subsidies for older adults on vaccination coverage and mortality before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: An ecological study in Japan”. Public Health 227: e3-e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2023.12.011 (IF=5.2).
Dang, N. H. T., Le, D. D., Chuanwan, S., & Dwomoh, D. (2023). How do outlet’s and provider’s characteristics affect family planning utilization? A comparative study of Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. BMC Women's Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-023-02699-0 (Corresponding author) (IF=5.2).
Ando, T., Ibuka, Y., Goto, R., Haruta, J., Le, D. D., & Fujishima, S. (2023). Effect of influenza vaccine subsidies for older adults on vaccination coverage and mortality before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: an ecological study in Japan. Public Health 224: 152-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2023.08.031 (IF=5.2).
Le, D. D., Quashie, T. N., Brandt, M., & Ibuka, Y. (2023). Wealth inequalities in physical and cognitive impairments across Japan and Europe: The role of health expenditure and infrastructure. International Journal for Equity in Health 22: 123. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-023-01906-6 (IF=5.0)
Le, D. D., Leon-Gonzalez, R., & Matola, J. U. (2021). Modeling count data for health care utilization: an empirical study of outpatient visits among Vietnamese older people. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 21: 265. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-021-01619-2 (IF=3.9)
Le, D. D., Leon-Gonzalez, R., Giang, T. L., & Nguyen, A. T. (2020). Socio-economic-related health inequality in non-communicable diseases among older people in Vietnam. Ageing & Society. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X19001843 (IF=2.5)
Le, D.D., Leon-Gonzalez, R., & Giang, T.L. (2020). Decomposing gender inequality in functional disability among older people in Vietnam. Archives of Gerontology & Geriatrics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2019.103989 (IF=4.0)
Le, T. H., Doan, N. T., Hoang, P. D., To, T. T., Le, D. D., & Nguyen, T. T. H. Determinants of risk-taking behaviors of outsourcing innovation decision and intensity in Vietnam: Make, pure or hybrid? International Journal of Innovation Management, 25(4): 1-33. https://doi.org/10.1142/S1363919621500481 (IF=2.1)
Le, D. D., Quashie, T. N., & Prachuabmoh, V. (2019). How does self-rated health differ among older Vietnamese men and women? Journal of Population Ageing12: 69-93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12062-018-9223-9 (IF=2.3)
Giang, T. L., & Le, D. D. (2018). Working beyond traditional retirement age: how does chronic health condition influence older workers in Vietnam. Ageing International 43: 158-173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-017-9301-y (IF=1.6)
Le, D. D., & Giang, T. L. (2016). Gender differences in prevalence and associated factors of multi-morbidity among older persons in Vietnam. International Journal on Ageing in Developing Countries, 1(2): 113-132.
Book Chapter
Le, D. D., Nguyen, T. A., & Dang, H. N. T. (2021). Elder abuse: the case of Vietnam under a gender perspective. Chapter 18, in Helaine Selin (Eds), Science across cultures: The history of non-Western science. Springer.
GRANTS
2024-2025: Grants-in-Aid for Research Base Creation, Principal Investigator, Waseda University.
2019-2022: Open Research Area for the Social Sciences, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (collaborator).
2015-2016: The 90th Anniversary of Chulalongkorn University Scholarship (Research Scholarship), Principal Investigator, Chulalongkorn University.
Work in progress
Cost-effectiveness of tobacco cessation: Evidence from a community-based randomized controlled trial in Vietnam
Cost-effectiveness evidence of text message intervention for smoking cessation: A systematic review of economic evaluations
The causal effect of maternal education on child development: a natural experiment from Vietnam (with Dr. Minh Nguyen)
Offsprings' education and parental health outcomes: evidence from Vietnam
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