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How responsive is body weight to transitory income changes? Evidence from rural Tanzania

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  • Bengtsson, Niklas

Abstract

We use time-series of rainfall to estimate the response of body weight to transitory changes in household income in rural Tanzania. We find that the response of body weight to income changes is positive on average, but that the impact is highest for female children, and lower for adults. For female children, a ten-percent increase in household income implies an increase in body weight by about 0.4Â kg. In contrast, the body weight of adolescents and young adults is virtually invariant to income changes.

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  • Bengtsson, Niklas, 2010. "How responsive is body weight to transitory income changes? Evidence from rural Tanzania," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 53-61, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:92:y:2010:i:1:p:53-61
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income variability Nutrition Sub-Saharan Africa;

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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