Polygynous family structure and child undernutrition in Africa: Empirical evidence from Nigeria
A growing interest is emerging in the literature to explore how child nutrition is affected by sociocultural practices, such as polygyny. However, evaluation of the effect of polygyny on child nutrition has been hindered by the complexity of the relationship. This paper investigates the impact of po...
| Autores principales: | , , , |
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| Formato: | Conference Paper |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
African Association of Agricultural Economists
2019
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145561 |
| _version_ | 1855514579745898496 |
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| author | Amare, Mulubrhan Mahrt, Kristi Mavrotas, George Arndt, Channing |
| author_browse | Amare, Mulubrhan Arndt, Channing Mahrt, Kristi Mavrotas, George |
| author_facet | Amare, Mulubrhan Mahrt, Kristi Mavrotas, George Arndt, Channing |
| author_sort | Amare, Mulubrhan |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | A growing interest is emerging in the literature to explore how child nutrition is affected by sociocultural practices, such as polygyny. However, evaluation of the effect of polygyny on child nutrition has been hindered by the complexity of the relationship. This paper investigates the impact of polygyny on anthropometric outcomes recognizing that unobservable household characteristics may simultaneously influence both the polygyny decision and the ability to adequately nourish children. We apply an instrumental variable approach based on the occurrence of same sex siblings in a woman’s first two births to generate exogenous variation in polygyny. Using 2008 and 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data, we find that same sex siblings predict polygyny. We also find a strong positive effect of polygyny confirming its detrimental effect on both long-term and short-term child undernutrition, with a greater impact in poorer and more urban households. |
| format | Conference Paper |
| id | CGSpace145561 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateRange | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| publisher | African Association of Agricultural Economists |
| publisherStr | African Association of Agricultural Economists |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1455612025-02-24T06:45:51Z Polygynous family structure and child undernutrition in Africa: Empirical evidence from Nigeria Amare, Mulubrhan Mahrt, Kristi Mavrotas, George Arndt, Channing anthropometric dimensions gender child nutrition undernutrition malnutrition nutrition family structure children A growing interest is emerging in the literature to explore how child nutrition is affected by sociocultural practices, such as polygyny. However, evaluation of the effect of polygyny on child nutrition has been hindered by the complexity of the relationship. This paper investigates the impact of polygyny on anthropometric outcomes recognizing that unobservable household characteristics may simultaneously influence both the polygyny decision and the ability to adequately nourish children. We apply an instrumental variable approach based on the occurrence of same sex siblings in a woman’s first two births to generate exogenous variation in polygyny. Using 2008 and 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data, we find that same sex siblings predict polygyny. We also find a strong positive effect of polygyny confirming its detrimental effect on both long-term and short-term child undernutrition, with a greater impact in poorer and more urban households. 2019-11-25 2024-06-21T09:04:40Z 2024-06-21T09:04:40Z Conference Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145561 en https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133706 https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2021.1898591 Open Access African Association of Agricultural Economists Amare, Mulubrhan; Mahrt, Kristi; Mavrotas, George; and Arndt, Channing. 2019. Polygynous family structure and child undernutrition in Africa: Empirical evidence from Nigeria. Presented at the 6th African Conference of Agricultural Economists, in Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria, September 23-26, 2019. https://purl.umn.edu/295868 |
| spellingShingle | anthropometric dimensions gender child nutrition undernutrition malnutrition nutrition family structure children Amare, Mulubrhan Mahrt, Kristi Mavrotas, George Arndt, Channing Polygynous family structure and child undernutrition in Africa: Empirical evidence from Nigeria |
| title | Polygynous family structure and child undernutrition in Africa: Empirical evidence from Nigeria |
| title_full | Polygynous family structure and child undernutrition in Africa: Empirical evidence from Nigeria |
| title_fullStr | Polygynous family structure and child undernutrition in Africa: Empirical evidence from Nigeria |
| title_full_unstemmed | Polygynous family structure and child undernutrition in Africa: Empirical evidence from Nigeria |
| title_short | Polygynous family structure and child undernutrition in Africa: Empirical evidence from Nigeria |
| title_sort | polygynous family structure and child undernutrition in africa empirical evidence from nigeria |
| topic | anthropometric dimensions gender child nutrition undernutrition malnutrition nutrition family structure children |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145561 |
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