Sanitation and child health in India

Abstract

Our study contributes to the understanding of key drivers of stunted growth, a factor widely recognized as major impediment to human capital development. Specifically, we examine the effects of sanitation coverage and usage on child height for age in a semi-urban setting in Northern India. We use instrumental variables to control for endogeneity of sanitation usage coverage. We find that sanitation coverage plays a significant and positive role in height growth during the first years of life.JEL I12