Stunting and Selection Effects of Famine: A Case Study of the Great Chinese Famine

Tue Gørgens, Xin Meng () and Rhema Vaithianathan

No 2010-2, CEI Working Paper Series from Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University

Abstract: Many developing countries experience famine. If survival is related to height, the increasingly common practice of using height as a measure of well-being may be misleading. We devise a novel method for disentangling the stunting from the selection effects of famine. Using data from the 1959-1961 Great Chinese Famine, we find that taller children were more likely to survive the famine. Controlling for selection, we estimate that children under the age of five who survived the famine grew up to be 1 to 2 cm shorter. Our results suggest that average height is potentially a biased measure of economic conditions during childhood.

Keywords: Famine; height; China; panel data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C33 I12 N95 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2010-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://hermes-ir.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/hermes/ir/re/29189/wp2010-2.pdf

Related works:
Journal Article: Stunting and selection effects of famine: A case study of the Great Chinese Famine (2012)
Working Paper: Stunting and Selection Effects of Famine: A Case Study of the Great Chinese Famine (2010)
Working Paper: Stunting and Selection Effects of Famine: A Case Study of the Great Chinese Famine (2007)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hit:hitcei:2010-2

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