Lecture by Seema Jayachandran & Esther Duflo | Why Are Indian Children Shorter Than African Children

Worldwide, it is estimated that 287,000 women die in childbirth every year and 7,614,000 children do not survive past the age of five years. In May 2014, to address these and other issues relating to maternal and child health in developing countries, J-PAL hosted a one-day conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology which featured evidence from several randomized evaluations designed to promote better take-up and delivery of health services for mothers and children.

J-PAL affiliated professor Seema Jayachandran, associate professor of economics at Northwestern University, shared results from a study of factors affecting height of children in South Asia and Africa. The study, which, unlike most papers presented at J-PAL events, is not a randomized controlled trial (RCT), is entitled Why Are Indian Children Shorter Than African Children? J-PAL Director Esther Duflo discussed the paper following its presentation.