Protecting Child Nutritional Status in the Aftermath of a Financial Crisis : Evidence from Indonesia
This paper exploits heterogeneity in program exposure to evaluate the effectiveness of a supplementary feeding program implemented in the wake of the 1997-1998 economic crises in Indonesia. The explicit aim of the program was to protect the nutriti...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20101109095817 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3953 |
| Summary: | This paper exploits heterogeneity in
program exposure to evaluate the effectiveness of a
supplementary feeding program implemented in the wake of the
1997-1998 economic crises in Indonesia. The explicit aim of
the program was to protect the nutritional status of infants
and young children from adverse effects of the crisis. The
use of heterogeneity in program exposure has several
advantages for identifying the impact of the program. First,
the analysis avoids the strong assumption that all targeted
children experienced homogenous exposure to the program, and
facilitates identification in a setting in which nearly all
communities experienced some exposure. Second, by exploiting
child age and program eligibility rules, the paper estimates
models with community fixed effects and thus avoid bias
introduced as a result of endogenous program placement. The
analysis finds that the program improved the nutritional
status of children 12 to 24 months of age at the time of the
survey in 2000, and helped to avoid problems of severe
malnutrition among young children. |
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