Collaborative Research: Nutritional Investments in Children, Adult Human Capital, and Adult Productivities

这项研究的主要目的是促进了解幼儿营养对发展中国家的教育和健康以及成年人的经济生产力的重要性。先前对这些重要主题的实证研究是有限的，因为它们没有从婴儿期和幼儿期到成年期的个人数据，因为它们没有令人信服地处理由于营养反映过去的行为而产生的估计问题，因为没有观察到一些特征，如先天健康和能力。本研究检查了中美洲和巴拿马营养研究所（INCAP）在危地马拉农村收集的丰富数据，以调查儿童营养对2002/3年收集数据时25-40岁，但在1969-1976年初始纵向数据收集期间为0-7岁的个体的影响。这些特殊的数据和适当的估计技术被用来检验三组假设：(1)控制相关的社区、家庭、父母和个人特征，幼儿更好的营养状况与：(1)学校成绩和智力功能有因果和积极的联系；（二）成人移徙、健康和劳动生产率；（三）配偶特征及通过婚姻获得的财产。(2)通过对体力和智力资本积累的影响，幼儿期良好的营养与：(1)较高的职业流动性呈因果正相关；（ii）提高农业和非农业就业的生产率；（三）更大的消耗；（四）更高水平的物质福利。(3)在这种情况下，用于改善儿童营养的资源的经济回报率，包括影响及其各自的时间模式之外的成本，是很高的。该项目的总体意义是非常重大的。营养不良在发展中国家普遍存在，目前影响到大约10亿人，并被认为对教育、卫生和经济生产力产生重大负面影响。但是，在此之前，还没有对儿童早期营养对成人教育、健康和经济生产力的影响进行经济分析，使用的数据是从儿童早期到成年的个体。因此，关于幼儿营养和一系列保健和教育政策对成人健康、教育和生产力的影响程度，项目估计数提供了非常丰富的资料。因此，它们加强了政策制定的知识基础，从而可能大大改善发展中国家许多最贫穷人民的福利和生产力。

The principal objective of this research is to advance understanding of the significance of early childhood nutrition for education and health and for economic productivity of adults in developing countries. Previous empirical studies on these important topics are limited because they do not have data that follows individuals from infancy and early childhood to adulthood and because they do not deal persuasively with estimation problems that arise because nutrition reflects past behaviors and because some characteristics, such as innate healthiness and ability, are not observed. This study is examining rich data collected by the Nutrition Institute for Central America and Panama (INCAP) in rural Guatemala to investigate the impact of childhood nutrition for individuals who are 25-40 years old when data are collected in 2002/3, but who were 0-7 years old during the initial longitudinal data collection in 1969-1976. These special data and appropriate estimation techniques are used to test three groups of hypotheses: (1) Controlling for relevant community, household, parental, and individual characteristics, better nutritional status in young children is causally and positively associated with: (i) school achievement and intellectual functioning; (ii) adult migration, health, and labor productivity; and (iii) spouse characteristics and assets acquired through marriage. (2) Through its effects on accumulated physical and intellectual capital, better nutrition during early childhood is causally and positively related to: (i) higher occupational mobility; (ii) higher productivity in agricultural and non-agricultural employment; (iii) greater consumption; and (iv) higher levels of material well being. (3) The economic rate of return to resources used to improve childhood nutrition, incorporating costs in addition to impacts and their respective time patterns, is high in such a context.The overall significance of the project is very substantial. Malnutrition is pervasive in developing countries, currently affecting about a billion people and is thought of have major negative effects on education, health and economic productivities. But there have been no previous economic analysis of effects of early childhood nutrition on adult education, health and economic productivities using data that follow individuals from early childhood into adulthood. Therefore the project estimates are very informative about the magnitudes of effects of early childhood nutrition and of a range of health and educational policies on adult health, education and productivity. They, thus, strengthen the knowledge basis for policy formulation that might improve significantly the welfare and the productivity of many of the poorest people in developing countries.