Incorrect knowledge of the health production function may lead to inefficient household choices, and thereby to the production of suboptimal levels of health. This paper studies the effects of a randomised intervention in rural Malawi which, over a six-month period, provided mothers of young infants with information on child nutrition without supplying any monetary or in-kind resources. A simple model first investigates theoretically how nutrition and other household choices including labour supply may change in response to the improved nutrition knowledge observed in the intervention areas. We then show empirically that, in line with this model, the intervention improved child nutrition, household consumption and consequently health. These increases are funded by an increase in male labor supply. We consider and rule out alternative explanations behind these findings. This paper is the first to establish that non-health choices, particularly parental labor supply, are affected by parents’ knowledge of the child health production function.
Authors
Research Fellow University College London
Emla Fitzsimons is a Professor of Economics at the University College London Institute of Education and a Research Fellow at the IFS.
Alice Mesnard
Research Fellow University College London
Marcos is a Research Fellow at IFS, an Affiliate at the Rural Education Action Program and a Professor of Economics at the University College London.
Research Fellow University of Kent
Bansi is a Research Fellow of the IFS, a Senior Lecturer of Economics at the University of Kent and also a Fellow at the Global Labor Organisation.
Working Paper details
- DOI
- 10.1920/wp.ifs.2014.1402
- Publisher
- Journal of Development Economics
Suggested citation
Fitzsimons, E et al. (2014). Nutrition, information, and household behaviour: experimental evidence from Malawi. London: Journal of Development Economics. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/nutrition-information-and-household-behaviour-experimental-evidence-malawi-0 (accessed: 20 May 2024).
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