PhD Candidate: Roshani Bulkunde

Dissertation Title: "Essays in Health and Development Economics: Economic Shocks, Maternal and Infant Health, and Loneliness"

Abstract:

This dissertation studies how policy interventions and economic conditions affect health and well-being, with a particular focus on maternal and infant health, social dimensions of health such as loneliness and social isolation, and economic hardship. I examine these questions in India and the United States. 

The first chapter evaluates India’s nationwide conditional cash transfer program, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, and its effects on maternal and infant health outcomes. This program offers cash incentives to pregnant women and new mothers for their first child, conditional on pregnancy registration, at least one antenatal care visit, and completion of the child’s first vaccination cycle. Using a difference-in-differences design, I find no significant effects on pregnancy registration, antenatal care visits, maternal anemia, birth weight, or child vaccination. These findings suggest that administrative and service-access barriers may constrain program uptake. 

The second chapter focuses on loneliness, which has recently been recognized by the U.S. Surgeon General as a public health epidemic. This chapter examines how wealth shocks driven by changes in stock market valuations affect loneliness, using microdata from the Health and Retirement Study linked to the S&P 500 index. I find that wealth gains reduce feelings of isolation but increase feelings of lacking companionship. 

The third chapter examines how COVID-19 lockdown and economic support policies affected the economic hardships experienced by American households, using a household panel dataset from the Federal Reserve Board linked to the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker. Findings indicate that nearly one in three adults experienced multiple hardships. Stricter lockdowns were associated with greater economic hardship, while economic support policies mitigated some of these effects. 

Together, these chapters highlight the role of economic conditions and public policy in shaping health and well-being. Across the three settings, the findings show that financial incentives may have limited effects when implementation and access to services constrain their reach, that changes in wealth can affect social well-being, and that government policies can influence households’ economic hardships during periods of crisis.

Committee:

Jason Lindo (Co-Chair) - Associate Chair, Mary S. and Richard B. Inman, Jr. Professor of Economics, School of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology

Shatakshee Dhongde (Co-Chair) - Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Professor of Economics, School of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology

Olga Shemyakina - Associate Professor, School of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology

Mayra Pineda-Torres - Assistant Professor, School of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology

Andrew Dustan - Associate Professor, Department of Economics, William & Mary College

Date: October 20, 2026 

Time: 12:00 PM

Location: Price Gilbert 4222 - Dissertation Defense Presentation (Georgia Tech Library Dissertation Defense Room)