Investments in youth are particularly important in light of the unprecedented numbers of young people now entering their reproductive and early adult productive years. Of the more than one billion youth aged 15-24, 86 percent live in developing countries. This guide is for those involved in...

The paper reviews the evidence on the link between low birth weight (LBW) and health outcomes and economic productivity. The overall benefits depend both on the economic environment and the manner in which future streams of income are discounted. Thus, the sensitivities of the overall estimates...

This paper explores the economic case for investments in youth in developing countries. The current cohort of youth is the largest cohort ever. The economic, social, and demographic context of their lives has undergone enormous change, thus requiring a rethinking and re-evaluation of the range...

Reducing the incidence of low birth weight not only lowers infant mortality rates but also has multiple benefits over the life cycle. This study estimates the economic benefits of reducing the incidence of low birth weight in low-income countries, both through lower mortality rates and medical...

Food coma, also known as postprandial somnolence, is a commonly cited reason for experiencing reduced alertness during mid-afternoon worldwide. By using exogenous variation in the timing of tests and, hence, by extension, plausibly exogenous variation in the temporal distance between an...

Inequalities in learning opportunities arise from both household, and school-related factors. Although these factors are unlikely to be independent, few studies have considered the extent to which sorting between schools and households might aggravate educational inequalities. To fill this gap,...