This dissertation evaluates the impact of quality certification on the demand for locally-produced infant foods. To avoid stunting or wasting, most children aged 6-24 months need to complement breastmilk with processed foods having higher energy density than adult foods. Donors have subsidized...

This paper provides evidence of effectiveness for performance pay among government caregivers to improve child health in India. In a controlled study of 160 daycare centers serving over 4,000 children, we randomly assign individual workers to receive either fixed bonuses or incentive payments...

Height-for-age z-scores (HAZs) and stunting status (HAZ−2) are widely used to measure child nutrition and population health. However, accurate measurement of age is nontrivial in populations with low levels of literacy and numeracy, limited use of formal birth records, and weak cultural norms...

Policies and programs often aim to improve the affordability of nutritious diets, but existing food price indexes are based on observed quantities which may not meet nutritional goals. To measure changes in the cost of reaching international standards of diet quality, we introduce a new Cost of...

This study develops the concept of nutritional mobility, defined here as the probability that a mother ranked low in her cohort's height distribution will have a child who attains a higher rank order. We demonstrate that rank-order regression provides a robust metric of health equity, revealing...

We carry out a randomized control trial to test for interaction effects between training state-employed caregivers and providing mothers information to improve nutrition of preschool children aged 2-6 in rural India. Salaried caregivers are supposed to provide a mid-day meal and also advise...