PSC In The News
Stafford, Schoeni, and Chen find many Americans making little headway against debt
Wightman and Schoeni find most young adults helped financially by parents
Johnston says decline in perceived risk contributes to rise in marijuana use among teens
Patrick calls increase in newborns undergoing drug withdrawal a public health epidemic
Danziger discusses use of IRS data in trend analyses of income distribution
Highlights
Research Professor position in international family demography, PSC/SRC
Pamela Smock elected president of the Association of Population Centers
Elisha Renne awarded Guggenheim Fellowship for African studies
Bob Groves leaving Census Bureau for Georgetown University
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Rebecca L. Thornton
Funded Research:
Fertility, Intergenerational Transfers, and Economic Development in South Africa (Hewlett)
Impact of Cash Grants among South African Youth (Freedman)
Isolation, AIDS, and the Elderly: Data Collection and a Field Intervention in Malawi (PSC-Ford Funds)
Menstruation and Education in Nepal: Follow-up Study (Mueller)
Scaling up Male Circumcision Service Provision (3Ie)
Unconventional Safer Sex Strategies (Mueller)
Faculty Associate, Population Studies Center.
Assistant Professor, Economics.
Ph.D., Harvard University
Dr. Thornton's research focuses on issues related to health and education in developing countries and has involved field-experiments in Africa and South Asia. Current work includes examining how learning HIV results affect savings and investment behavior, measuring how financial incentives to stay HIV negative affect sexual behavior, and examining how menstruation affects education and labor force participation.
Recent Publications
Journal Articles
Godlonton, Susan, and Rebecca L. Thornton. 2012. "Peer effects in learning HIV results." Journal of Development Economics, 97(1): 118-129. PMCID: PMC3212403. DOI. Abstract.
Oster, Emily, and Rebecca L. Thornton. 2011. "Menstruation, Sanitary Products and School Attendance: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3(1): 91-100. DOI.
Thornton, Rebecca L., Laurel E. Hatt, Erica M. Field, Mursaleena Islam, Freddy Solis Diaz, and Martha Azucena Gonzalez. 2010. "Social security health insurance for the informal sector in Nicaragua: a randomized evaluation." Health Economics, 19(Suppl. 1): 181-206. DOI. Abstract. Local Access.
Kremer, Michael, Edward Miguel, and Rebecca L. Thornton. 2009. "Incentives to learn." Review of Economics and Statistics, 91(3): 437-456. Abstract.
Angotti, Nicole, Agatha Bula, Lauren Gaydosh, Eitan Zeev Kimchi, Rebecca L. Thornton, and Sara E. Yeatman. 2009. "Increasing the acceptability of HIV counseling and testing with three C's: Convenience, confidentiality and credibility." Social Science & Medicine, 68(12): 2263-2270. PMCID: PMC2785859. DOI. Abstract.
Obare, F., P. Fleming, P. Anglewicz, Rebecca L. Thornton, F. Martinson, A. Kapatuka, M. Poulin, S. Watkins, and H.P. Kohler. 2009. "Acceptance of repeat population-based voluntary counselling and testing for HIV in rural Malawi." Sexually Transmitted Infections, 85(2): 139-144. PMCID: PMC2788818. DOI. Abstract. Public Access.
Thornton, Rebecca L. 2008. "The Demand for, and Impact of, Learning HIV Status." American Economic Review, 98(5): 1829-1863. DOI. Abstract. Public Access. Local Access.