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Migration and child growth in rural Guatemala

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  • Carletto, Calogero
  • Covarrubias, Katia
  • Maluccio, John A.

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between migration and child growth in the rural highlands of Guatemala, a region with substantial international migration outflows, significant remittance inflows, and some of the highest rates of child undernutrition in the world. Using cross-sectional survey data, a double-difference approach based on child growth patterns that controls for the selectivity of migration is used to assess the impact of migration to the US on Height-for-Age Z (HAZ) scores and stunting prevalence of children. HAZ scores for children in households with a migrant to the US are conservatively estimated to be 0.5 standard deviations higher and the prevalence of stunting is approximately 6 percentage points lower. Descriptive evidence suggests the possible channels through which migration may operate are improved food security and reduced morbidity.

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  • Carletto, Calogero & Covarrubias, Katia & Maluccio, John A., 2011. "Migration and child growth in rural Guatemala," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 16-27, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:36:y:2011:i:1:p:16-27
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    6. Haruna, Issahaku & Harvey, Simon K. & Abor, Joshua Y., 2016. "Does development finance pose an additional risk to monetary policy?," MPRA Paper 101637, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Jul 2016.
    7. Madhav Regmi & Krishna P. Paudel, 2017. "Food security in a remittance based economy," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(4), pages 831-848, August.
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    10. Isabell Duda & Anja Fasse & Ulrike Grote, 2018. "Drivers of rural-urban migration and impact on food security in rural Tanzania," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(4), pages 785-798, August.
    11. Carletto, Calogero & Maluccio, John A. & Shrestha, Savant Man & Stewart, Mackenzie F., 2021. "Migration, economic crisis and child growth in rural Guatemala: Insights from the Great Recession," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    12. Ogunniyi, A. & Mavrotas, G. & Olagunju, K. & Fadare, O. & Rufai, A.M., 2018. "The Paradigm of Governance Quality, Migration and its Implication on Food and Nutritional Security in Sub- Saharan Africa: What does Dynamic Generalized Method of Moments estimation reveal?," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 275994, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Li, Qiang & Liu, Gordon & Zang, Wenbin, 2015. "The health of left-behind children in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 367-376.
    14. Regmi, Madhav & Paudel, Krishna P. & Williams, Deborah, 2014. "Migration and Remittance and Their Impacts on Food Security in Nepal," 2014 Annual Meeting, February 1-4, 2014, Dallas, Texas 162503, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    15. Ren Mu & Alan Brauw, 2015. "Migration and young child nutrition: evidence from rural China," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(3), pages 631-657, July.
    16. Jason Davis & Noli Brazil, 2016. "Migration, Remittances and Nutrition Outcomes of Left-Behind Children: A National-Level Quantitative Assessment of Guatemala," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, March.
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    18. de Brauw, Alan, 2018. "Rural-urban migration and implications for rural production," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 6(3), March.
    19. Daniela Oprea, 2021. "School Effects of Attachment Break in Context of Economic Migration of Parents," Book chapters-LUMEN Proceedings, in: Otilia Clipa (ed.), ATEE 2020 - Winter Conference. Teacher Education for Promoting Well-Being in School. Suceava, 2020, edition 1, volume 16, chapter 23, pages 350-359, Editura Lumen.
    20. Curtis Holder & Gregory Chase, 2012. "The role of remittances and decentralization of forest management in the sustainability of a municipal-communal pine forest in eastern Guatemala," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 25-43, February.
    21. Yu, Yanying & Chen, Kevin & Liu, Chengfang & Li, Shaoping, 2021. "Parental Migration and Children’s Dietary Diversity: Evidence from Rural China," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315017, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

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