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Health Impacts of the Green Revolution: Evidence from 600,000 births across the Developing World

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  • von der Goltz, Jan
  • Dar, Aaditya
  • Fishman, Ram
  • Mueller, Nathaniel D.
  • Barnwal, Prabhat
  • McCord, Gordon C.

Abstract

What is the contribution of the ‘Green Revolution’ to improvements in child health during the 20th century? We provide global scale estimates of this relationship by constructing a novel, spatially-precise indicator of modern crop variety (MV) diffusion and leveraging child-level data from over 600,000 children across 21,604 sampling locations in 37 developing countries between 1961–2000. Results indicate that the diffusion of MVs reduced infant mortality by 2.4–5.3 percentage points (from a baseline of 18%), with stronger effects for male infants and among poor households. The sizable contribution of agricultural technology to improved welfare should inform global food and development policy.

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  • von der Goltz, Jan & Dar, Aaditya & Fishman, Ram & Mueller, Nathaniel D. & Barnwal, Prabhat & McCord, Gordon C., 2020. "Health Impacts of the Green Revolution: Evidence from 600,000 births across the Developing World," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:74:y:2020:i:c:s0167629619311282
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2020.102373
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    Cited by:

    1. Douglas Gollin & Casper Worm Hansen & Asger Mose Wingender, 2021. "Two Blades of Grass: The Impact of the Green Revolution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(8), pages 2344-2384.
    2. Tanguy Bernard & Sylvie Lambert & Karen Macours & Margaux Vinez, 2023. "Impact of small farmers' access to improved seeds and deforestation in DR Congo," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    3. K. L. Krishna & J. V. Meenakshi, 2022. "Agricultural Productivity Growth and Structural Transformation in Rural India: Some Recent Evidence," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 20(1), pages 277-302, September.
    4. McCullough, Ellen & Zhen, Chen & Shin, Soye & Lu, Meichen & Arsenault, Joanne, 2022. "The role of food preferences in determining diet quality for Tanzanian consumers," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    5. Fuglie, Keith O. & Echeverria, Ruben G., 2024. "The economic impact of CGIAR-related crop technologies on agricultural productivity in developing countries, 1961–2020," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    6. Júlio Vicente Cateia & Maurício Vaz Lobo Bittencourt & Terciane Sabadini Carvalho & Luc Savard, 2024. "The impacts of agricultural productivity on structural transformation, and poverty alleviation in Africa: evidence from Guinea-Bissau," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 305-320, June.

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