Are the Effects of Neighborhood Sanitation on Child Height in India Overstated?

Mayank Agrawal , Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani)
Bheemeshwar Amireddy, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani)
Sunny Jose, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani)

The paper examines whether the effect of increase in neighborhood sanitation on child height remains invariable irrespective of—or varies in line with—the varying level of neighborhood sanitation in India. By examining the varying influence of neighborhood sanitation on child height in India, the paper engages with a ‘development puzzle’ in India. The question is examined by analyzing the unit-level data of the latest wave of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), 2015-16 at the cluster level. The analysis, employing linear regression models and generalized additive models, suggests that the strength of the effect of neighborhood sanitation on stunting is sensitive to the level of the neighborhood sanitation in India. Clearly, at both ends of lower and higher levels of neighborhood sanitation, its influence on stunting appears either low or diminishing. This has an important policy implication, as increasing neighborhood sanitation might reduce child stunting in India only up to a threshold, not beyond.

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 Presented in Session 2. Children & Youth