Migration and Young Child Nutrition: Evidence from Rural China

Ren Mu () and Alan de Brauw

No 7466, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: The unprecedented large scale rural-to-urban migration in China has left many rural children living apart from their parents. In this study, we examine the impact of parental migration on the nutritional status of young children in rural areas. We use the interaction terms between wage growth in provincial capital cities and initial village migrant networks as instrumental variables to account for migration selection. Our results show that parental migration has no significant impact on the height of children, but it improves their weight. We provide suggestive evidence that the improvement in weight may be achieved through increased access to tap water in migrant households. Concerns about the sustainability of the impact on weight are raised in the conclusions.

Keywords: migration; children; nutrition; rural China; child nutrition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I1 J6 O1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 49 pages
Date: 2013-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna, nep-cwa, nep-dev, nep-hea and nep-mig
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published - published in: Journal of Population Economics, 2015, 28, 631-657

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Journal Article: Migration and young child nutrition: evidence from rural China (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7466

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