IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/deveco/v150y2021ics0304387820301887.html

Body and mind: Experimental evidence from women living with HIV

Author

Listed:
  • Lubega, Patrick
  • Nakakawa, Frances
  • Narciso, Gaia
  • Newman, Carol
  • Kaaya, Archileo N.
  • Kityo, Cissy
  • Tumuhimbise, Gaston A.

Abstract

How should we support marginalized individuals? By providing nutritional support for their body or by supporting their mind and allowing them to see their potential? This paper explores ways to improve the welfare of women living with HIV, by addressing two obstacles that they face: the body and the mind. We use a randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of three information-focused treatments: a standard nutritional information campaign, cookery demonstrations and role models. We find that providing information on nutrition leads to an improvement in nutritional intake and overall health. Participatory information interventions, such as the cookery demonstrations and exposure to role models, are found to empower and inspire participants to become more ambitious and invest in income-generating activities. As such, these types of interventions have the potential to have longer-term effects on welfare than passive information campaigns.

Suggested Citation

  • Lubega, Patrick & Nakakawa, Frances & Narciso, Gaia & Newman, Carol & Kaaya, Archileo N. & Kityo, Cissy & Tumuhimbise, Gaston A., 2021. "Body and mind: Experimental evidence from women living with HIV," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:150:y:2021:i:c:s0304387820301887
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2020.102613
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387820301887
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2020.102613?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Banerjee,Abhijit & La Ferrara,Eliana & Orozco Olvera,Victor Hugo, 2019. "The Entertaining Way to Behavioral Change : Fighting HIV with MTV," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8998, The World Bank.
    2. Anderson, Michael L., 2008. "Multiple Inference and Gender Differences in the Effects of Early Intervention: A Reevaluation of the Abecedarian, Perry Preschool, and Early Training Projects," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 103(484), pages 1481-1495.
    3. John A. List & Azeem M. Shaikh & Yang Xu, 2019. "Multiple hypothesis testing in experimental economics," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 22(4), pages 773-793, December.
    4. Eliana La Ferrara & Alberto Chong & Suzanne Duryea, 2012. "Soap Operas and Fertility: Evidence from Brazil," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 1-31, October.
    5. Ghazala Mansuri & Vijayendra Rao, 2013. "Localizing Development : Does Participation Work?," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 11859, April.
    6. Alderman, Harold, 2007. "Improving Nutrition through Community Growth Promotion: Longitudinal Study of the Nutrition and Early Child Development Program in Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 1376-1389, August.
    7. Garance Genicot & Debraj Ray, 2017. "Aspirations and Inequality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 85, pages 489-519, March.
    8. Ravallion, Martin & van de Walle, Dominique & Dutta, Puja & Murgai, Rinku, 2015. "Empowering poor people through public information? Lessons from a movie in rural India," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 13-22.
    9. Travis J. Lybbert & Bruce Wydick, 2018. "Poverty, Aspirations, and the Economics of Hope," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66(4), pages 709-753.
    10. Leonardo Bursztyn & Florian Ederer & Bruno Ferman & Noam Yuchtman, 2014. "Understanding Mechanisms Underlying Peer Effects: Evidence From a Field Experiment on Financial Decisions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82(4), pages 1273-1301, July.
    11. Kramer, Berber, 2017. "Cooking contests for healthier recipes: Impacts on nutrition knowledge and behaviors in Bangladesh," IFPRI discussion papers 1661, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Tanguy Bernard & Stefan Dercon & Kate Orkin & Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse, 2015. "Behavioral economics: Will video kill the radio star? Assessing the potential of targeted exposure to role models through video," Post-Print hal-03022494, HAL.
    13. Abhijit Banerjee & Sharon Barnhardt & Esther Duflo, 2014. "Nutrition, Iron Deficiency Anemia, and the Demand for Iron-Fortified Salt: Evidence from an Experiment in Rural Bihar," NBER Chapters, in: Discoveries in the Economics of Aging, pages 343-384, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Duflo, Esther & Glennerster, Rachel & Kremer, Michael, 2008. "Using Randomization in Development Economics Research: A Toolkit," Handbook of Development Economics, in: T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 61, pages 3895-3962, Elsevier.
    15. Patricio S. Dalton & Sayantan Ghosal & Anandi Mani, 2016. "Poverty and Aspirations Failure," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(590), pages 165-188, February.
    16. Gunhild Berg & Bilal Zia, 2017. "Harnessing Emotional Connections to Improve Financial Decisions: Evaluating the Impact of Financial Education in Mainstream Media," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 15(5), pages 1025-1055.
    17. Johannes Haushofer & Jeremy Shapiro, 2016. "The Short-term Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers to the Poor: ExperimentalEvidence from Kenya," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1973-2042.
    18. La Ferrara, Eliana & DellaVigna, Stefano, 2015. "Economic and Social Impacts of the Media," CEPR Discussion Papers 10667, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Vivian Hoffmann & Jacob R. Fooks & Kent D. Messer, 2014. "Measuring and Mitigating HIV Stigma: A Framed Field Experiment," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 62(4), pages 701-726.
    20. Kjetil Bjorvatn & Alexander W. Cappelen & Linda Helgesson Sekei & Erik Ø. Sørensen & Bertil Tungodden, 2020. "Teaching Through Television: Experimental Evidence on Entrepreneurship Education in Tanzania," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(6), pages 2308-2325, June.
    21. Jeffrey R Kling & Jeffrey B Liebman & Lawrence F Katz, 2007. "Experimental Analysis of Neighborhood Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 75(1), pages 83-119, January.
    22. David S. Lee, 2009. "Training, Wages, and Sample Selection: Estimating Sharp Bounds on Treatment Effects," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 76(3), pages 1071-1102.
    23. Oriana Bandiera & Robin Burgess & Narayan Das & Selim Gulesci & Imran Rasul & Munshi Sulaiman, 2017. "Labor Markets and Poverty in Village Economies," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(2), pages 811-870.
    24. Eliana La Ferrara, 2016. "Mass Media And Social Change: Can We Use Television To Fight Poverty?," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 791-827, August.
    25. Fitzsimons, Emla & Malde, Bansi & Mesnard, Alice & Vera-Hernández, Marcos, 2016. "Nutrition, information and household behavior: Experimental evidence from Malawi," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 113-126.
    26. Lori Beaman & Raghabendra Chattopadhyay & Esther Duflo & Rohini Pande & Petia Topalova, 2009. "Powerful Women: Does Exposure Reduce Bias?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1497-1540.
    27. David Canning, 2006. "The Economics of HIV/AIDS in Low-Income Countries: The Case for Prevention," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(3), pages 121-142, Summer.
    28. Pascaline Dupas, 2011. "Do Teenagers Respond to HIV Risk Information? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 1-34, January.
    29. de Mel, Suresh & McKenzie, David & Woodruff, Christopher, 2014. "Business training and female enterprise start-up, growth, and dynamics: Experimental evidence from Sri Lanka," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 199-210.
    30. Marian Meller & Stephan Litschig, 2014. "Saving Lives: Evidence from a Conditional Food Supplementation Program," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(4), pages 1014-1052.
    31. Young, Alwyn, 2019. "Channeling Fisher: randomization tests and the statistical insignificance of seemingly significant experimental results," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101401, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    32. Emanuela Galasso & Nithin Umapathi & Jeffrey Yau, 2011. "Nutritional Gains from Extended Exposure to a Large-scale Nutrition Programme," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 20(5), pages 673-703, November.
    33. Tanguy Bernard & Stefan Dercon & Kate Orkin & Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse, 2015. "Will Video Kill the Radio Star? Assessing the Potential of Targeted Exposure to Role Models through Video," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 29(suppl_1), pages 226-237.
    34. Eliana La Ferrara, 2016. "Mass Media and Social Change: Can We Use Television to Fight Poverty?," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 791-827.
    35. Alwyn Young, 2019. "Channeling Fisher: Randomization Tests and the Statistical Insignificance of Seemingly Significant Experimental Results," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(2), pages 557-598.
    36. Jeanne Lafortune & Julio Riutort & José Tessada, 2018. "Role Models or Individual Consulting: The Impact of Personalizing Micro-entrepreneurship Training," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 222-245, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nakakawa, Frances & Mugisha, Johnny & Kaaya, Archileo N. & Tumwesigye, Nazarius M. & Hennessey, Martina, 2024. "Nutrition education effects on food and nutrition security for women living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    2. Hou, Minghui & Min, Shi & Qing, Ping & Tian, Xu, 2024. "Can a knowledge calendar improve dietary knowledge? Evidence from a field experiment in rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    3. Buehren, Niklas & Papineni, Sreelakshmi, 2025. "Gender Discrimination in Entrepreneurial Finance : Experimental Evidence from Ethiopia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11152, The World Bank.
    4. Das, Smita & Delavallade, Clara & Fashogbon, Ayodele Emmanuel & Papineni, Sreelakshmi, 2026. "Turning Inward and/or Outward : Which Socioemotional Skills Pay for Agribusiness Entrepreneurs in Nigeria ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11325, The World Bank.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ghada Barsoum & Bruno Crépon & Drew Gardiner & Bastien Michel & William Parienté, 2022. "Evaluating the Impact of Entrepreneurship Edutainment in Egypt: An Experimental Approach," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(353), pages 82-109, January.
    2. Banerjee,Abhijit & La Ferrara,Eliana & Orozco Olvera,Victor Hugo, 2019. "The Entertaining Way to Behavioral Change : Fighting HIV with MTV," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8998, The World Bank.
    3. Dalton, Patricio & Rüschenpöhler, Julius & Uras, Burak & Zia, Bilal, 2019. "Local Best Practices for Business Growth," Other publications TiSEM fc650e2f-88cf-4d75-8257-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    4. Siddique, Abu & Vlassopoulos, Michael & Zenou, Yves, 2024. "Leveraging Edutainment and Social Networks to Foster Interethnic Harmony," CEPR Discussion Papers 19034, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Uckat, Hannah Irmela, 2023. "Leaning in at Home : Women's Promotions and Intra-household Bargaining in Bangladesh," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10370, The World Bank.
    6. Grady, Christopher & Iannantuoni, Alice & Winters, Matthew S., 2021. "Influencing the means but not the ends: The role of entertainment-education interventions in development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    7. Bastien Michel & Samuel Kembou & Sonali Wayal & Joanna Murray, 2023. "Leveraging Mobile Phone Expansion in LMICs to Improve Parental Practices," Working Papers hal-03909663, HAL.
    8. Katrina Kosec & Kamiljon Akramov & Bakhrom Mirkasimov & Jie Song & Hongdi Zhao, 2022. "Aspirations and women's empowerment: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 101-134, January.
    9. Felix Rusche, 2025. "Broadcasting Change: India’s Community Radio Policy and Women’s Empowerment," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Economics 2025_05, Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Economics.
    10. Sandrine Mesplé-Somps & Björn Nilsson, 2020. "Role models and migration intentions," Working Papers DT/2020/13, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    11. Martini, Christina & Ibañez Diaz, Marcela & Khadjavi, Menusch, "undated". "Community Aspirations and Collective Action," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 309651, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
    12. Patrick Lubega & Frances Nakakawa & Gaia Narciso & Carol Newman & Cissy Kityo, 2017. "Inspiring women: Experimental evidence on sharing entrepreneurial skills in Uganda," Trinity Economics Papers tep2017, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    13. Steinert, Janina Isabel & Cluver, Lucie Dale & Meinck, Franziska & Doubt, Jenny & Vollmer, Sebastian, 2018. "Household economic strengthening through financial and psychosocial programming: Evidence from a field experiment in South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 443-466.
    14. Baul, Tushi & Karlan, Dean & Toyama, Kentaro & Vasilaky, Kathryn, 2024. "Improving smallholder agriculture via video-based group extension," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    15. González Amador, Michelle & Cowan, Robin & Nillesen, Eleonora, 2022. "Peer networks and malleability of educational aspirations," MERIT Working Papers 2022-028, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    16. Ross, Phillip H. & Glewwe, Paul & Prudencio, Daniel & Wydick, Bruce, 2021. "Developing educational and vocational aspirations through international child sponsorship: Evidence from Kenya, Indonesia, and Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    17. Mayank Aggarwal & Anindya S. Chakrabarti & Chirantan Chatterjee, 2023. "Movies, stigma and choice: Evidence from the pharmaceutical industry," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 1019-1039, May.
    18. Aregawi G Gebremariam & Elisabetta Lodigiani & Giacomo Pasini, 2024. "The Impact of Ethiopian Productive Safety Net Program on Children's Educational Aspirations and Attainments," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 33(3), pages 271-296.
    19. repec:osf:osfxxx:k6tqr_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Leonardo Bursztyn & Ingar K. Haaland & Aakaash Rao & Christopher P. Roth, 2020. "Disguising Prejudice: Popular Rationales as Excuses for Intolerant Expression," NBER Working Papers 27288, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Eliana La Ferrara, 2016. "Mass Media And Social Change: Can We Use Television To Fight Poverty?," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 791-827, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
    • D9 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:150:y:2021:i:c:s0304387820301887. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/devec .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.