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A dose-response model of road development and child nutrition in Nepal

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  • Thapa, Ganesh
  • Shively, Gerald

Abstract

Transportation development accompanies economic development, both as a driver of growth and as an outcome of economy-wide investments made possible by growth. Evidence of the effects of roads and road quality on human well-being is limited. This paper studies the association between district-level transportation infrastructure and district-average child nutrition outcomes in Nepal. We combine two rounds of nationally representative data on child growth from the 2006 and 2011 Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys with district-level information on roads and road quality. We estimate a dose-response function for height-for-age and weight-for-height z-scores. Results suggest that roads and road quality matter for short- and long-term nutrition outcomes for children under five years of age. Using a spatial econometric model we also observe statistically significant geographic spillovers from roads, suggesting broad and beneficial health and nutrition payoffs from transportation development.

Suggested Citation

  • Thapa, Ganesh & Shively, Gerald, 2018. "A dose-response model of road development and child nutrition in Nepal," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 112-124.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:retrec:v:70:y:2018:i:c:p:112-124
    DOI: 10.1016/j.retrec.2018.11.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Anjani Kumar & Ganesh Thapa & Ashok K. Mishra & P. K. Joshi, 2020. "Assessing food and nutrition security in Nepal: evidence from diet diversity and food expenditure patterns," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(2), pages 327-354, April.
    2. Venkat, Aishwarya & Masters, William A., 2023. "Supply Chain Resilience to Extreme Weather: Evidence from Early Warning Systems," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335937, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Suchi Kapoor Malhotra & Howard White & Nina Ashley O. Dela Cruz & Ashrita Saran & John Eyers & Denny John & Ella Beveridge & Nina Blöndal, 2021. "Studies of the effectiveness of transport sector interventions in low‐ and middle‐income countries: An evidence and gap map," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Nutrition; Height-for-age zscore; Weight-for-height zscore; Roads; Dose-response; Transportation; Nepal;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • C51 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Construction and Estimation

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