Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/278161 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
SustainableFood Discussion Paper No. 2
Publisher: 
Georg-August University of Göttingen, RTG 2654 Sustainable Food Systems, Göttingen
Abstract: 
This paper re-enters the contested discussion surrounding the Indian Enigma, the high prevalence of chronic undernutrition in India relative to sub-Saharan Africa. Jayachandran & Pande argue that the key to the Indian enigma lies in the worse treatment of higher birth order children, particularly girls. Analyzing new data, we find: (1) Parameter estimates are sensitive to sampling design and model specification; (2) The gap between the heights of pre-school African and Indian children is closing; (3) The gap does not appear to be driven by differential associations by birth order and child sex; (4) The remaining gap is associated with differences in maternal heights. If Indian women had the heights of their African counterparts, pre-school Indian children would be taller than pre-school African children; and (5) Once we account for survey design, sibling size and maternal height, the coefficient associated with being an Indian girl is no longer statistically significant.
Subjects: 
Nutrition
India
sub-Saharan Africa
Height
India Enigma
JEL: 
I12
I15
J13
O12
O15
O57
Z13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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