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Household Responses to Information on Child Nutrition: Experimental Evidence from Malawi

Author

Listed:
  • Mesnard, Alice
  • Vera-Hernández, Marcos
  • Fitzsimons, Emla
  • Malde, Bansi
Abstract
This paper provides evidence on household responses to the relaxation of one barrier constraining adoption of health practices - lack of information - in a resource constrained setting. It examines the effects of a randomized intervention in Malawi which provides mothers with information on infant nutrition and health. It finds that the intervention results in increases in household food consumption, particularly of protein-rich foods by children. The increased household consumption is funded by increased father?s labor supply, constituting evidence that changes in the perceived child health production function affect adult labor supply. Improved consumption also results in better child health.

Suggested Citation

  • Mesnard, Alice & Vera-Hernández, Marcos & Fitzsimons, Emla & Malde, Bansi, 2012. "Household Responses to Information on Child Nutrition: Experimental Evidence from Malawi," CEPR Discussion Papers 8915, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8915
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    3. Aline Bütikofer & Katrine V. Løken & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2019. "Infant Health Care and Long-Term Outcomes," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(2), pages 341-354, May.
    4. Bütikofer, Aline & Loken, Katrine Vellesen & Salvanes, Kjell G., 2015. "Long-Term Consequences of Access to Well-Child Visits," IZA Discussion Papers 9546, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Macours, Karen, 2012. "Volatility, Risk and Household Poverty: Micro-evidence from Randomized Control Trials," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 128293, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. A. Colin Cameron & Douglas L. Miller, 2015. "A Practitioner’s Guide to Cluster-Robust Inference," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 317-372.
    7. David P. Byrne & Andrea La Nauze & Leslie A.Martin, 2014. "Tell Me Something I Don’t Already Know:Informedness and External Validity in Information Programs," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 1180, The University of Melbourne.
    8. Gupte, Jaideep & Longhurst, Richard, 2019. "How do the state’s organisational capacities at the micro- and macro-levels influence agriculture-nutrition linkages in fragile contexts?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 74-83.
    9. Álvarez, Begoña & Vera-Hernández, Marcos, 2013. "Exploiting subjective information to understand impoverished children's use of health care," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 1194-1204.
    10. Ho Lun Wong & Yaojiang Shi & Renfu Luo & Linxiu Zhang & Scott Rozelle, 2014. "Improving the Health and Education of Elementary Schoolchildren in Rural China: Iron Supplementation Versus Nutritional Training for Parents," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(4), pages 502-519, April.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Infant health; Health information; Cluster randomised control trial;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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