The proposal seeks support for two health-focused follow-up waves to The Gansu Survey of Children and Families (GSCF), one of the first major surveys of youth, poverty, and human capital acquisition undertaken in developing countries. The baseline wave (GSCF-1) included a sample of 2000 children aged 9-12 in 20 rural counties in a province in northwest China. Focusing on educational attainment, it included questionnaires for children, mothers, households, teachers, school administrators, and village leader, as well as tests of child cognitive ability and achievement in math and language. GSCF-2 and 3 will reinterview the same children at three-year intervals to 1) examine the economic consequences of physical and psychosocial health, especially for future labor supply decisions and labor productivity; 2) evaluate the indirect effects of health on labor outcomes through its effect on education and learning; and 3) identify community, family, and individual factors that affect health and development. The GSCF offers a prospective panel design that facilitates identification of the effects of early education and health experiences on adult productivity and health as youth enter the labor market. It pilots new measurement standards for examining these relationships derived from interdisciplinary conceptualizations of health and learning. Finally, it incorporates multiple levels of measurement that allow thorough attention to the roles of family and community resources in conditioning children's health, educational, and economic outcomes.
