Monsoon Babies : Rainfall Shocks and Child Nutrition in Nepal
Do household consumption-smoothing strategies in poor countries entail significant long-run costs in terms of reduced human capital? This paper exploits the timing of monsoon rainfall shocks and the seasonal nature of agriculture to isolate income...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/03/17499922/monsoon-babies-rainfall-shocks-child-nutrition-nepal http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13175 |
| Summary: | Do household consumption-smoothing
strategies in poor countries entail significant long-run
costs in terms of reduced human capital? This paper exploits
the timing of monsoon rainfall shocks and the seasonal
nature of agriculture to isolate income effects on early
childhood anthropometric outcomes in rural Nepal and to
provide evidence on the persistence of these effects into
later childhood. Findings suggest that a 10 percent increase
in rainfall from historic norms during the most recently
completed monsoon leads to a 0.15 standard deviation
increase in weight-for-age for children ages 0-36 months.
This total impact consists of a negative "disease
environment effect" of no more than 0.02 standard
deviations and a positive "income effect" as high
as 0.17 standard deviations. Consistent with this
interpretation, excess monsoon rainfall also enhances child
stature, but only if the monsoon rainfall shock is
experienced in the second year of life. Moreover, this
effect on child height is transitory, dissipating completely
by age five. |
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