Does greater autonomy among women provide the key to better child nutrition?

Wiji Arulampalam

The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) from University of Warwick, Department of Economics

Abstract: We examine the link between a mother’s autonomy - the freedom and ability to think, express, act and make decisions independently - and the nutritional status of her children. We design a novel statistical framework that accounts for cultural and traditional environment, to create a measure of maternal autonomy, a concept that has rarely been examined previously as a factor in children’s nutritional outcomes. Using data from the Third Round of the National Family Health Survey for India, supplemented with our qualitative survey, and accounting for “son preference” by limiting analysis to first-born children under 18 months of age, we document that maternal autonomy has a positive impact on the long-term nutritional status of rural children.

Keywords: Child Nutrition; Maternal Autonomy; Latent Factor Models; Empirical Bayes; India; National Family Health Survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C38 I14 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Does greater autonomy among women provide the key to better child nutrition? (2016)
Working Paper: Does greater autonomy among women provide the key to better child nutrition? (2016)
Working Paper: Does Greater Autonomy among Women Provide the Key to Better Child Nutrition? (2016)
Working Paper: Does Greater Autonomy among Women Provide the Key to Better Child Nutrition? (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wrk:warwec:1117

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