Plasmodium falciparum is the main cause of human malaria and is one of the important pathogens ca... more Plasmodium falciparum is the main cause of human malaria and is one of the important pathogens causing high rates of morbidity and mortality. The total number of malaria patients in Vietnam has gradually decreased over the last decade. However, the spread of pathogens with drug resistance remains a significant problem. Defining the trend in genotypes related to drug resistance is essential for the control of malaria in Vietnam. We undertook a longitudinal survey of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in 2001, 2002, and 2005 to 2007. The pfcrt , pfmdr1 , pfdhfr , and pfdhps genes were analyzed by sequencing; and correlations by study year, age, gender, and genotype were identified statistically. The ratio of the chloroquine resistance genotype pfcrt 76T was found to have decreased rapidly after 2002. High numbers of mutations in the pfdhfr and pfdhps genes were observed only in 2001 and 2002, while the emergence of parasites with a new K540Y mutation in the P. falciparum dihydropteroate sy...
In this paper we analyze a continuous-time model of investment with uncertainty, irreversibility ... more In this paper we analyze a continuous-time model of investment with uncertainty, irreversibility and a broad class of lumpy adjustment costs. We show that the two components of the optimal investment strategy, the investment trigger and the investment increment, can be found sequentially, and that the optimal investment increment maximizes a closed form function. Solving the model numerically, we find that adding a relatively small amount of variable adjustment costs often leads firms to invest in much smaller increments. We derive a measure of user cost that incorporates lumpy investment, and use it to show that as firms invest in bigger increments, the investment trigger increases as well. JEL classification: E22. * The authors would like to thank Betty Daniel, Bruce Dieffenbach, Michael Sattinger and seminar participants at the University at Albany for comments and suggestions. We benefited from the comments of two anonymous referees, one of which provided unusually detailed and helpful suggestions. We are particularly grateful to Michael Jerison, without whom this paper would not be possible.
We look beyond the traditional focus on the gender gap in schooling attainment by investigating h... more We look beyond the traditional focus on the gender gap in schooling attainment by investigating how gender differences in cognitive achievement in mid-childhood and adolescence are associated with trajectories of deprivation, measured by undernutrition and poverty. This study uses longitudinal data that include math, reading, and receptive vocabulary test scores at ages eight and 15 years for children in four low-and middle-income countries. We find associations between nutrition status in preschool years and cognitive achievements more substantial for eight-year-old girls than their male counterparts. Between ages eight and 15, however, the cognitive development of girls is less responsive than for boys to their growth and poverty (proxied by wealth at age 12 years). We find significant associations of the test scores in math and reading at age 15 with nutritional status at age 12 and with preadolescence wealth at age 12 for boys in India and Peru, as well as all boys in the pooled sample. Consequently, considerable gender gaps are observed unfavorable to girls in cognitive achievement at age 15 for India and Peru. This study adds another rationale for governments in countries with significant stunting prevalence and gender gaps favoring males to invest more in preschool children.
Nam. The views presented in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect th... more Nam. The views presented in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ministry of Planning and Investment, ARTNeT members, partners and the United Nations. This study was conducted as part of the Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT) initiative, aimed at building regional trade policy and facilitation research capacity in developing countries. This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the World Trade Organization (WTO). The technical support of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific is gratefully acknowledged. Any remaining errors are the responsibility of the author. The authors may be contacted at
In this paper, we use a longitudinal data set that follows three thousand children in Vietnam to ... more In this paper, we use a longitudinal data set that follows three thousand children in Vietnam to study the economic significance of childhood poverty–cognitive achievement nexus. Focusing on the consequences of stunting, we look at height-for-age z-score (HAZ), and trace the impact of HAZ on child cognitive achievement independent of the source of HAZ’s variation - whether it comes from the variation in child characteristics at birth and the environmental factors, or in the household characteristics (stature, socioeconomic status, etc.). An increase by a standard deviation of HAZ at the age of one expectedly leads to an increase by one fourth of a standard deviation of the log score in a widely-used test of language ability at the age of five. For a quantitative cognitive achievement test, the corresponding figure is 0.20. Our evidence suggests that some of the disadvantages in socioeconomic status are being transmitted across generations.
This paper uses data on 3,000 children in Vietnam, as well as on their siblings, to investigate t... more This paper uses data on 3,000 children in Vietnam, as well as on their siblings, to investigate the problem of children dropping out of school early or leaving straight after lower secondary education. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are employed. We find that poor performance in class is the biggest predictor of children leaving school early. Household poverty and parental education are also important factors behind the probability of this phenomenon. The most frequent reason given by parents for children ceasing to attend school is lack of interest. Our analysis shows that poverty is not an important determinant of lack of interest. Other factors, such as being from an ethnic minority or having a mother with a low level of schooling, however, are strongly associated with lack of interest in school. Furthermore, even though children may give one of several different reasons for leaving school early, qualitative evidence from our in-depth interviews with them points to ...
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder of a very complex etiopa... more Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder of a very complex etiopathogenesis. There are three clinical types of this syndrome: with constipation, with diarrhea and mixed, with alternating constipation and diarrhea. Etiopathogenetic factors include, among others, genetic, environmental and inflammatory predispositions, chronic stress and depression. Therefore, it is contemplated whether the disease affects the digestive or the nervous system. Both, in the central nervous system and in the gastrointestinal tract, there are many same receptors and neurotransmitters involved in the regulation of their activities. Among them, serotonin plays an important role. The main function of serotonin is the regulation of gastrointestinal motility and secretion. L-tryptophan, exogenous amino acid, is its precursor. The deficiency or the excess of both the compounds and disorders in their metabolism affect the abnormal bowel function. Thus, taking this into account, a proper diet should not be forgotten in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. It has been demonstrated that patients with diarrhea-predominant IBS have a higher blood serotonin level compared to healthy subjects. No such difference was observed in constipation-predominant IBS. Furthermore, patients with constipationpredominant disease demonstrated lower levels of serotonin metabolite-5-hydroxy-3-indoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in urine. Patients with higher postprandial blood levels of serotonin feel discomfort after a meal. This confirms the validity of the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in the treatment of patients with constipation-predominant IBS, as the availability of this neurotransmitter is increased in the body, which stimulates peristalsis. Thus, it may be reasonable to recommend patients with constipationpredominant IBS a diet rich in tryptophan-containing foods, whereas patients with diarrhea-predominant IBS should avoid their consumption.
This paper examines whether participation in extra classes improves children’s cognitive test sco... more This paper examines whether participation in extra classes improves children’s cognitive test scores, using data from the second and third rounds of the Young Lives survey in Vietnam. Using a standard value-added model, we find that that the number of hours pupils spend in extra classes is not associated with better cognitive (mathematics and vocabulary) test scores. However, a number of other factors (parental schooling, household wealth, ethnicity and gender) do influence children’s test scores. These results are robust to different estimation methods and model specifications. The findings suggest that the large amounts that the parents of Young Lives children spend on extra classes cannot be justified from a cognitive standpoint.
A longitudinal dataset that follows 1,200 Vietnamese children born in 2001-02 is used to investig... more A longitudinal dataset that follows 1,200 Vietnamese children born in 2001-02 is used to investigate the impact of child malnutrition on cognitive development. We demonstrate that the impact of early childhood stunting on cognition can be estimated with significant bias for a majority of children if researchers omit the data on gestational age. The negative impact of the length in preterm on the cognitive achievement of pre-schoolers is statistically significant. Having controlled for the effect of the length in preterm, however, the effect of height-forage at age one on cognitive achievement at age five is not statistically significant.
Child chronic malnutrition is endemic in low-and middle-income countries and deleterious for chil... more Child chronic malnutrition is endemic in low-and middle-income countries and deleterious for child development. Studies investigating the relationship between nutrition at different periods of childhood, as measured by growth in these periods (growth trajectories), and cognitive development have produced mixed evidence. Although an explanation of this has been that different studies use different approaches to model growth trajectories, the differences across approaches are not well understood. Furthermore, little is known about the pathways linking growth trajectories and cognitive achievement. In this paper, we develop and estimate a general path model of the relationship between growth trajectories and cognitive achievement using data on four cohorts from Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam. The model is used to: (a) compare two of the most common approaches to modelling growth trajectories in the literature, namely the lifecourse plot and the conditional body size model, and (b) investigate the potential channels via which the association between growth in each period and cognitive achievement manifests. We show that the two approaches are expected to produce systematically different results that have distinct interpretations. Results suggest that growth from conception through age 1 year, between age 1 and 5 years, and between 5 and 8 years, are each positively and significantly associated with cognitive achievement at age 8 years and that this may be partly explained by the fact that faster-growing children start school earlier. We also find that a significant share of the association between early growth and later cognitive achievement is mediated through growth in interim periods.
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. All rights reserve... more A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. Reproduction, copy, transmission, or translation of any part of this publication may be made only under the following conditions: • with the prior permission of the publisher; or • with a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd., 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE, UK, or from another national licensing agency; or • under the terms set out below. This publication is copyright, but may be reproduced by any method without fee for teaching or non-profit purposes, but not for resale. Formal permission is required for all such uses, but normally will be granted immediately. For copying in any other circumstances, or for re-use in other publications, or for translation or adaptation, prior written permission must be obtained from the publisher and a fee may be payable. Available from:
The economy of Viet Nam is considered in two versions. First, in the simple presentation, the hou... more The economy of Viet Nam is considered in two versions. First, in the simple presentation, the households are all pooled together and only monetary values are considered. In such a presentation, Viet Nam’s economic growth and the progress in poverty reduction since 1993 is really impressive. After twelve years, poverty incidence cut down by nearly two thirds, while the inequality, measured by GINI coefficient, changed only slightly. Secondly, when new dimensions of household characteristics such as regional, rural/urban, and ethnic are added in an extended version, however, we see some cause for concern. That is the systematic correlation between the division into the poor/non-poor and those in regional, rural versus urban, and ethnic dimensions. Working with household panel data from the surveys in 2002 and 2004, we study the characterization of the poor and varieties of gaps. Among the findings, the rates of returns on the education of the ethnic minorities are estimated to be lowe...
The Authors ii 1. 2.3 Growth in middle childhood and early adolescence: Young Lives survey data 3... more The Authors ii 1. 2.3 Growth in middle childhood and early adolescence: Young Lives survey data 3. Empirical strategy 3.1 The variables 3.2 Empirical strategy 4. Empirical results 4.1 The determinants of growth velocities 4.2 Growth and skill development 4.3 Timing of puberty and skill development 5.
H o w D o C h il d re n F a re i n t h e N e w M il le n n iu m ? In iti al fi nd in gs fr om V i... more H o w D o C h il d re n F a re i n t h e N e w M il le n n iu m ? In iti al fi nd in gs fr om V ie tn a m Young Lives is a long-term international research project investigating the changing nature of childhood poverty in four developing countries – Ethiopia, India (in Andhra Pradesh), Peru and Vietnam – over 15 years, the timeframe set by the UN to assess progress towards the UN Millennium Development Goals.
We use longitudinal data on over 1,500 children born in 2001 in Vietnam to study the impact of ea... more We use longitudinal data on over 1,500 children born in 2001 in Vietnam to study the impact of early childhood stunting on height, lagging in schooling progression and cognitive outcomes in late childhood (age 8-10 years). Our preferred estimates utilize 2SLS estimators to control for the endogenous determination of early childhood stunting and also include control for child sex and birth order, mother’s height and BMI, household socioeconomic status, and community characteristics. These estimates indicate that deficits in height-for-age at age 12 months have negative impacts on height in late childhood but not on schooling and cognitive outcomes in late childhood. The children who were stunted or moderately stunted at age 12 months display significant catch-up growth, recovering half of their deficits in height-for-age by age 8 years. Socioeconomic status in infancy has negative effects on both stunting in infancy and poor subsequent educational outcomes in late childhood, which re...
The Sustainable Development Goals approved in 2015 include provisions around education, such as S... more The Sustainable Development Goals approved in 2015 include provisions around education, such as SDG 4 (United Nations Organization 2015). These are related to lifelong learning, and include both access and outcomes (learning) for all children. Monitoring to what level children reach these goals and what factors are associated with their progress is therefore an important research and policy issue. In this policy brief, we describe the educational trajectories of 12,000 children in total, across two cohorts: the Younger Cohort born around 1994 and the Older Cohort born around 2001, in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam. The data come from Young Lives household and school surveys conducted over the last 15 years. Researchers from each of these countries have a produced a report on the trajectories of these children since 2002, when we first started following them (Cueto et al. 2016; Duc and Hang 2016; Singh and Mukherjee 2016; Woldehanna and Araya 2016). Below we integrate and summaris...
Plasmodium falciparum is the main cause of human malaria and is one of the important pathogens ca... more Plasmodium falciparum is the main cause of human malaria and is one of the important pathogens causing high rates of morbidity and mortality. The total number of malaria patients in Vietnam has gradually decreased over the last decade. However, the spread of pathogens with drug resistance remains a significant problem. Defining the trend in genotypes related to drug resistance is essential for the control of malaria in Vietnam. We undertook a longitudinal survey of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in 2001, 2002, and 2005 to 2007. The pfcrt , pfmdr1 , pfdhfr , and pfdhps genes were analyzed by sequencing; and correlations by study year, age, gender, and genotype were identified statistically. The ratio of the chloroquine resistance genotype pfcrt 76T was found to have decreased rapidly after 2002. High numbers of mutations in the pfdhfr and pfdhps genes were observed only in 2001 and 2002, while the emergence of parasites with a new K540Y mutation in the P. falciparum dihydropteroate sy...
In this paper we analyze a continuous-time model of investment with uncertainty, irreversibility ... more In this paper we analyze a continuous-time model of investment with uncertainty, irreversibility and a broad class of lumpy adjustment costs. We show that the two components of the optimal investment strategy, the investment trigger and the investment increment, can be found sequentially, and that the optimal investment increment maximizes a closed form function. Solving the model numerically, we find that adding a relatively small amount of variable adjustment costs often leads firms to invest in much smaller increments. We derive a measure of user cost that incorporates lumpy investment, and use it to show that as firms invest in bigger increments, the investment trigger increases as well. JEL classification: E22. * The authors would like to thank Betty Daniel, Bruce Dieffenbach, Michael Sattinger and seminar participants at the University at Albany for comments and suggestions. We benefited from the comments of two anonymous referees, one of which provided unusually detailed and helpful suggestions. We are particularly grateful to Michael Jerison, without whom this paper would not be possible.
We look beyond the traditional focus on the gender gap in schooling attainment by investigating h... more We look beyond the traditional focus on the gender gap in schooling attainment by investigating how gender differences in cognitive achievement in mid-childhood and adolescence are associated with trajectories of deprivation, measured by undernutrition and poverty. This study uses longitudinal data that include math, reading, and receptive vocabulary test scores at ages eight and 15 years for children in four low-and middle-income countries. We find associations between nutrition status in preschool years and cognitive achievements more substantial for eight-year-old girls than their male counterparts. Between ages eight and 15, however, the cognitive development of girls is less responsive than for boys to their growth and poverty (proxied by wealth at age 12 years). We find significant associations of the test scores in math and reading at age 15 with nutritional status at age 12 and with preadolescence wealth at age 12 for boys in India and Peru, as well as all boys in the pooled sample. Consequently, considerable gender gaps are observed unfavorable to girls in cognitive achievement at age 15 for India and Peru. This study adds another rationale for governments in countries with significant stunting prevalence and gender gaps favoring males to invest more in preschool children.
Nam. The views presented in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect th... more Nam. The views presented in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ministry of Planning and Investment, ARTNeT members, partners and the United Nations. This study was conducted as part of the Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT) initiative, aimed at building regional trade policy and facilitation research capacity in developing countries. This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the World Trade Organization (WTO). The technical support of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific is gratefully acknowledged. Any remaining errors are the responsibility of the author. The authors may be contacted at
In this paper, we use a longitudinal data set that follows three thousand children in Vietnam to ... more In this paper, we use a longitudinal data set that follows three thousand children in Vietnam to study the economic significance of childhood poverty–cognitive achievement nexus. Focusing on the consequences of stunting, we look at height-for-age z-score (HAZ), and trace the impact of HAZ on child cognitive achievement independent of the source of HAZ’s variation - whether it comes from the variation in child characteristics at birth and the environmental factors, or in the household characteristics (stature, socioeconomic status, etc.). An increase by a standard deviation of HAZ at the age of one expectedly leads to an increase by one fourth of a standard deviation of the log score in a widely-used test of language ability at the age of five. For a quantitative cognitive achievement test, the corresponding figure is 0.20. Our evidence suggests that some of the disadvantages in socioeconomic status are being transmitted across generations.
This paper uses data on 3,000 children in Vietnam, as well as on their siblings, to investigate t... more This paper uses data on 3,000 children in Vietnam, as well as on their siblings, to investigate the problem of children dropping out of school early or leaving straight after lower secondary education. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are employed. We find that poor performance in class is the biggest predictor of children leaving school early. Household poverty and parental education are also important factors behind the probability of this phenomenon. The most frequent reason given by parents for children ceasing to attend school is lack of interest. Our analysis shows that poverty is not an important determinant of lack of interest. Other factors, such as being from an ethnic minority or having a mother with a low level of schooling, however, are strongly associated with lack of interest in school. Furthermore, even though children may give one of several different reasons for leaving school early, qualitative evidence from our in-depth interviews with them points to ...
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder of a very complex etiopa... more Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder of a very complex etiopathogenesis. There are three clinical types of this syndrome: with constipation, with diarrhea and mixed, with alternating constipation and diarrhea. Etiopathogenetic factors include, among others, genetic, environmental and inflammatory predispositions, chronic stress and depression. Therefore, it is contemplated whether the disease affects the digestive or the nervous system. Both, in the central nervous system and in the gastrointestinal tract, there are many same receptors and neurotransmitters involved in the regulation of their activities. Among them, serotonin plays an important role. The main function of serotonin is the regulation of gastrointestinal motility and secretion. L-tryptophan, exogenous amino acid, is its precursor. The deficiency or the excess of both the compounds and disorders in their metabolism affect the abnormal bowel function. Thus, taking this into account, a proper diet should not be forgotten in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. It has been demonstrated that patients with diarrhea-predominant IBS have a higher blood serotonin level compared to healthy subjects. No such difference was observed in constipation-predominant IBS. Furthermore, patients with constipationpredominant disease demonstrated lower levels of serotonin metabolite-5-hydroxy-3-indoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in urine. Patients with higher postprandial blood levels of serotonin feel discomfort after a meal. This confirms the validity of the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in the treatment of patients with constipation-predominant IBS, as the availability of this neurotransmitter is increased in the body, which stimulates peristalsis. Thus, it may be reasonable to recommend patients with constipationpredominant IBS a diet rich in tryptophan-containing foods, whereas patients with diarrhea-predominant IBS should avoid their consumption.
This paper examines whether participation in extra classes improves children’s cognitive test sco... more This paper examines whether participation in extra classes improves children’s cognitive test scores, using data from the second and third rounds of the Young Lives survey in Vietnam. Using a standard value-added model, we find that that the number of hours pupils spend in extra classes is not associated with better cognitive (mathematics and vocabulary) test scores. However, a number of other factors (parental schooling, household wealth, ethnicity and gender) do influence children’s test scores. These results are robust to different estimation methods and model specifications. The findings suggest that the large amounts that the parents of Young Lives children spend on extra classes cannot be justified from a cognitive standpoint.
A longitudinal dataset that follows 1,200 Vietnamese children born in 2001-02 is used to investig... more A longitudinal dataset that follows 1,200 Vietnamese children born in 2001-02 is used to investigate the impact of child malnutrition on cognitive development. We demonstrate that the impact of early childhood stunting on cognition can be estimated with significant bias for a majority of children if researchers omit the data on gestational age. The negative impact of the length in preterm on the cognitive achievement of pre-schoolers is statistically significant. Having controlled for the effect of the length in preterm, however, the effect of height-forage at age one on cognitive achievement at age five is not statistically significant.
Child chronic malnutrition is endemic in low-and middle-income countries and deleterious for chil... more Child chronic malnutrition is endemic in low-and middle-income countries and deleterious for child development. Studies investigating the relationship between nutrition at different periods of childhood, as measured by growth in these periods (growth trajectories), and cognitive development have produced mixed evidence. Although an explanation of this has been that different studies use different approaches to model growth trajectories, the differences across approaches are not well understood. Furthermore, little is known about the pathways linking growth trajectories and cognitive achievement. In this paper, we develop and estimate a general path model of the relationship between growth trajectories and cognitive achievement using data on four cohorts from Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam. The model is used to: (a) compare two of the most common approaches to modelling growth trajectories in the literature, namely the lifecourse plot and the conditional body size model, and (b) investigate the potential channels via which the association between growth in each period and cognitive achievement manifests. We show that the two approaches are expected to produce systematically different results that have distinct interpretations. Results suggest that growth from conception through age 1 year, between age 1 and 5 years, and between 5 and 8 years, are each positively and significantly associated with cognitive achievement at age 8 years and that this may be partly explained by the fact that faster-growing children start school earlier. We also find that a significant share of the association between early growth and later cognitive achievement is mediated through growth in interim periods.
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. All rights reserve... more A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. Reproduction, copy, transmission, or translation of any part of this publication may be made only under the following conditions: • with the prior permission of the publisher; or • with a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd., 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE, UK, or from another national licensing agency; or • under the terms set out below. This publication is copyright, but may be reproduced by any method without fee for teaching or non-profit purposes, but not for resale. Formal permission is required for all such uses, but normally will be granted immediately. For copying in any other circumstances, or for re-use in other publications, or for translation or adaptation, prior written permission must be obtained from the publisher and a fee may be payable. Available from:
The economy of Viet Nam is considered in two versions. First, in the simple presentation, the hou... more The economy of Viet Nam is considered in two versions. First, in the simple presentation, the households are all pooled together and only monetary values are considered. In such a presentation, Viet Nam’s economic growth and the progress in poverty reduction since 1993 is really impressive. After twelve years, poverty incidence cut down by nearly two thirds, while the inequality, measured by GINI coefficient, changed only slightly. Secondly, when new dimensions of household characteristics such as regional, rural/urban, and ethnic are added in an extended version, however, we see some cause for concern. That is the systematic correlation between the division into the poor/non-poor and those in regional, rural versus urban, and ethnic dimensions. Working with household panel data from the surveys in 2002 and 2004, we study the characterization of the poor and varieties of gaps. Among the findings, the rates of returns on the education of the ethnic minorities are estimated to be lowe...
The Authors ii 1. 2.3 Growth in middle childhood and early adolescence: Young Lives survey data 3... more The Authors ii 1. 2.3 Growth in middle childhood and early adolescence: Young Lives survey data 3. Empirical strategy 3.1 The variables 3.2 Empirical strategy 4. Empirical results 4.1 The determinants of growth velocities 4.2 Growth and skill development 4.3 Timing of puberty and skill development 5.
H o w D o C h il d re n F a re i n t h e N e w M il le n n iu m ? In iti al fi nd in gs fr om V i... more H o w D o C h il d re n F a re i n t h e N e w M il le n n iu m ? In iti al fi nd in gs fr om V ie tn a m Young Lives is a long-term international research project investigating the changing nature of childhood poverty in four developing countries – Ethiopia, India (in Andhra Pradesh), Peru and Vietnam – over 15 years, the timeframe set by the UN to assess progress towards the UN Millennium Development Goals.
We use longitudinal data on over 1,500 children born in 2001 in Vietnam to study the impact of ea... more We use longitudinal data on over 1,500 children born in 2001 in Vietnam to study the impact of early childhood stunting on height, lagging in schooling progression and cognitive outcomes in late childhood (age 8-10 years). Our preferred estimates utilize 2SLS estimators to control for the endogenous determination of early childhood stunting and also include control for child sex and birth order, mother’s height and BMI, household socioeconomic status, and community characteristics. These estimates indicate that deficits in height-for-age at age 12 months have negative impacts on height in late childhood but not on schooling and cognitive outcomes in late childhood. The children who were stunted or moderately stunted at age 12 months display significant catch-up growth, recovering half of their deficits in height-for-age by age 8 years. Socioeconomic status in infancy has negative effects on both stunting in infancy and poor subsequent educational outcomes in late childhood, which re...
The Sustainable Development Goals approved in 2015 include provisions around education, such as S... more The Sustainable Development Goals approved in 2015 include provisions around education, such as SDG 4 (United Nations Organization 2015). These are related to lifelong learning, and include both access and outcomes (learning) for all children. Monitoring to what level children reach these goals and what factors are associated with their progress is therefore an important research and policy issue. In this policy brief, we describe the educational trajectories of 12,000 children in total, across two cohorts: the Younger Cohort born around 1994 and the Older Cohort born around 2001, in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam. The data come from Young Lives household and school surveys conducted over the last 15 years. Researchers from each of these countries have a produced a report on the trajectories of these children since 2002, when we first started following them (Cueto et al. 2016; Duc and Hang 2016; Singh and Mukherjee 2016; Woldehanna and Araya 2016). Below we integrate and summaris...
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