Chapter 14 - Household care as a determinant of nutritional status—application of instrumental variable estimation

Abstract

Using case studies from the child nutrition literature, this chapter introduces the instrumental variable model. The analysis is shown in two steps. Estimation of the determinants of child-care practices is carried out in the first stage, while, in the second stage, the predicted value of child-care practices along with other control varieties is used to determine the impact of child nutrition outcomes. We illustrate the usefulness of the instrumental variable method for the federally funded nutrition programs in the United States. We relate these issues to children's health in Germany and to the one child–only policy in China.