No abstract

The excess female infant mortality observed in South Asia has typically been attributed to gender discrimination in the intra-household allocation of food and medical care. However, studies on child nutrition find no evidence of gender differences. A natural explanation could be that in environments of high infant mortality of females, the surviving children are healthier, so that child nutrition cannot be studied independently of mortality. In this paper, we use data from the 2004 Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey to investigate if there are any gender differences in survival probabilities, and whether this leads to consequent differences in child nutrition. We argue the importance of establishing whether or not there exists a dependence relationship between the two random variables -infant mortality and child nutrition -and in order to detect this we employ a copula approach to model specification. The results suggest that male children have a significantly lower likelihood of surviving their first year. However, conditional on survival, they have better height-for-age Z-scores. From a policy perspective, household wealth and public health interventions such as vaccinations are found to be important predictors of better survival and nutritional outcomes.JEL Classification: I12, C25, C51, O12

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to analyze the main determinants of child nutrition in rural Nepal, focusing on the influential role of maternal autonomy. Design/methodology/approach -This paper uses data from the 2006 Nepal Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) to estimate econometric models using OLS and logit techniques. The dependent variables are the two anthropometric measures of child weight-for-height (a measure of wasting) and height-for-age (a measure of stunting). Findings -No evidence was found of gender discrimination against the girl child in either of our nutritional measures. However, our results show that the explanatory variables have differential effects on male and female children. Estimation results show that maternal autonomy variables have a limited influence on child nutrition measures, but household wealth has a large positive impact on child nutrition, both short-term and long term. Originality/value -The large sample size and the range of questions available in our nationally representative dataset, allows us to explore the influence of household level social and economic factors on child nutrition. A study of the role of maternal decision-making power and control over assets on the nutritional status of children is an important issue in a developing country like Nepal, where health and education outcomes remain poor for large segments of the population.

No abstract

Using a sample of several hundred students we model progression in a first-year econometrics course. Our primary interest is in determining the usefulness of these models in the identification of 'students at risk'. This interest highlights the need to distinguish between students who drop the course and those who complete but who ultimately fail. Such models allow identification and quantification of the factors that are most important in determining student progression and thus make them a potentially useful aid in educational decision making. Our main findings are that Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER), mathematical aptitude, being female and attendance in tutorials are all good predictors of success but amongst these factors only attendance is significant in discriminating between students who fail and those who discontinue. Also, there are differences across degree programs and, in particular, students in Combined Law are very likely to pass but, if they are at risk, they are much more likely to discontinue than to fail. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd/University of Adelaide and Flinders University of South Australia 2004.