Abstract
This paper uses China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) data to analyze the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on nutrient intakes across various family roles to identify the different family roles’ heterogeneous nutrition intake responses to economic openness. The empirical evidence shows that FDI enhances labor forces’ calorie intake significantly, especially for rural households. The government should continue facilitating more FDI inflows, especially FDI in secondary industries for rural populations. However, the larger the family, the smaller the effect of FDI on nutrient intake for some family roles. The elderly and children may be weaker responders on nutrient intake than other family members in an open economy. This implies the existence of intra-household redistribution and that the level of effectiveness will decrease with family size. The results suggest that family members in rural areas can benefit more in terms of nutrient intake. Our empirical evidence also indicates that female family members’ calorie intake from the FDI effect is higher than that of male family members (except for the granddaughter/grandson). Preferential policies should be provided for the FDI, flowing to rural areas and female dominant industries.
Highlights
Since its reform and opening in 1978, China has experienced improvements in food consumption and nutrition intake
A 1% increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) openness is followed by 0.084% and 0.096% increases in the calorie intake of the husband in urban and rural areas, respectively
For every 1% increase in FDI openness, the calorie intake of an urban and rural wife will increase 0.107% and 0.113%, respectively
Summary
Since its reform and opening in 1978, China has experienced improvements in food consumption and nutrition intake. According to the China Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Status Report (2015). Nutrient intake is vital for health promotion, social equity, and long-term economic development. Direct economic losses caused by malnutrition are estimated to be in the range of 3 to 5% of GDP in developing countries [1]. It is imperative to conduct research on nutrition intake and transition. Bouis and Haddad [4] measured how household calorie intakes have changed with income and estimated elasticities, which range from 0.08 to 0.14. Tian and Yu [3] reported that calorie intake increases with income growth, but with decreasing marginal returns.
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