Does food subsidy affect household nutrition?: Some evidence from the Indian Public Distribution System

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy

Volumn 34, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 107-132

  Shaw, Tara Shankar ^a   Telidevara, Sridhar ^b  

^a INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT SHILLONG   (India)

^b GITAM UNIVERSITY   (India)

Author keywords

Average treatment effect; Income effect; Per capita per day calorie consumption; Propensity score matching; Substitution effect; Targeted Public Distribution System

Indexed keywords

EID: 84897390623     PISSN: 0144333X     EISSN: 17586720     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1108/IJSSP-08-2012-0073     Document Type: Article

References (68)

1. Adams, R.H. (1988), "Self-targeted subsidies: the distributional impact of the Egyptian food subsidy system" in Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 115-136.
2. Ahmed, A., Quiumbing, A.R., Nasreen, M., Hoddinott, J.F., Bryan, E. (2010), Comparing Food and Cash Transfers to the Ultra Poor in Bangladesh, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC.
3. Alderman, H. (2002), "Subsidies as a social safety net: effectiveness and challenges", World Bank Institute, Washington, DC, SP Discussion Paper No. 0224.
4. Austin, P.C. (2010), "Optimal caliper widths for propensity-score matching when estimating differences in means and differences in proportions in observational studies" in Pharmaceutical Studies, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 150-161.
5. Baird, S., Chirwa, E., McIntost, C., Ozler, B. (2010), "The short-term impacts of a schooling conditional cash transfer program on the sexual behaviour of young women" in Health Economics, Vol. 19, Supplement 1, pp. 55-68, special issue.
6. Behrman, J.R., Deolalikar, A.B. (1988), "Health and nutrition" in Chenery, H. and Srinivasan, T.N. (Eds.), Handbook of Development Economics, Vol. 1, North-Holland, Amsterdam, pp. 633-711.
7. Behrman, J.R., Alderman, A., Hoddinott, J. (2004), "Hunger and malnutrition", Copenhagen Consensus Challenge Paper.
8. Besley, T., Kanbur, R. (1988), "Food subsidies and poverty alleviation" in The Economic Journal, Vol. 98, No. 392, pp. 701-719.
9. Chandrasekhar, C.P. (2012), "Chronic famishment", The Hindu, 19 February.
10. Chaudhuri, A.R., Somanathan, E. (2011), "Impact of biometric identification-based transfers" in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 46, No. 21, pp. 77-80.
11. Chaudhuri, S., Jalan, J., Suryahadi, A. (2002), "Assessing household vulnerability to poverty from cross-sectional data: a methodology and estimates from Indonesia", Columbia University Department, New York, NY, Discussion Paper No. 0102-52.
12. Coady, D.P., Harris, R.L. (2004), "Evaluating transfer programmes within a general equilibrium framework" in The Economic Journal, Vol. 114, No. 498, pp. 778-799.
13. Deaton, A., Dreze, D. (2009), "Food and nutrition in India: facts and interpretations" in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 44, No. 7, pp. 43-49.
14. Dehajia, R.H., Wahba, S. (2002), "Propensity score-matching methods for non-experimental causal studies" in The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 84, No. 1, pp. 151-161.
15. DiPrete, T.A., Gangl, M. (2004), "Assessing bias in the estimation of causal effects: Rosenbaum bounds on matching estimators and instrumental variables estimation with imperfect instruments" in Sociological Methodology, Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 271-310.
16. Dreze, J. (2004), "Democracy and right to food" in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 39, No. 17, pp. 1723-1731, special article.
17. Dreze, J., Khera, R. (2010), "The BPL census and a possible alternative" in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 45, No. 9, pp. 54-63, special article.
18. Dreze, J., Khera, R. (2012), "A bill that asks too much of the poor", The Hindu, 5 September.
19. Duflo, E. (2003), "Grandmothers and granddaughters: old-age pensions and intrahousehold allocation in South Africa" in World Bank Economic Review, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 1-25.
20. Dutta, B., Ramaswami, B. (2001), "Targeting and efficiency in the public distribution system: case of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra" in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 36, No. 18, pp. 1524-1532, special article.
21. Edirisinghe, N. (1988), "Food subsidy changes in Sri Lanka: the short-run effect on the poor" in Pinstrup-Andersen, P. (Ed.), Food Subsidies in Developing Countries Costs, Benefits, and Policy Options, The Johns Hopkins University Press, London, pp. 253-266.
22. Edmonds, E.V. (2006), "Child labor and schooling responses to anticipated income in South Africa" in Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 81, No. 2, pp. 386-414.
23. Gangopadhyay, S., Wadhwa, W. (2004), "Are Indian female-headed households more vulnerable to poverty?", IDF Research Working Paper, Haryana.
24. Gangopadhyay, S., Lensink, R., Yadav, B. (2012), "Cash or food security through the public distribution system? Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Delhi, India", available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2186408 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2186408.
25. George, P.S. (1996), "Public distribution system, food subsidy and production incentives" in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 31, No. 39, pp. A140-A144.
26. Ghaia, R., Imai, K. (2004), "Vulnerability, shocks and persistence of poverty: estimates for semi-arid rural South India" in Oxford Development Studies, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 261-281.
27. Grosh, M., Andrews, C., Quintana, R., Rodriguez-Alas, C. (2011), "Assessing safety net readiness in response to food price volatility", Vol. 30, The World Bank, Washington, DC, SP Discussion Paper No. 1118, Social Protection and Labour.
28. Guo, K., N'Diaye, P. (2010), "Determinants of China's private consumption: an international perspective", IMF Working Paper WP/10/93.
29. Guo, X., Popkin, B.M., Mroz, T.A., Zhai, F. (1999), "Food price policy can favourably alter micronutrient intake in China" in The Journal of Nutrition, Vol. 129, No. 6, pp. 994-1001.
30. Gupta, S. (2013), "Cash transfer of subsidy could save Rs 60,000 crore: study", The Times of India, 1 April.
31. Himanshu (2008), "What are these new poverty estimates and what do they imply?" in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 43, No. 43, pp. 38-43.
32. Himanshu, Sen, A. (2011), "Why not a universal food security legislation?" in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 46, No. 12, pp. 38-47.
33. Hiraway, I. (2003), "Identification of BPL household for poverty alleviation programmes" in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 38, No. 45, pp. 4803-4808.
34. Horton, S. (1999), "Opportunities for investments in nutrition in low-income Asia" in Asian Development Review, Vol. 17, Nos 1/2, pp. 246-273.
35. Jalan, J., Murgai, R. (2006), "An effective "targeting shortcut"? An assessment of the 2002 below-poverty line census method", World Bank, New Delhi, mimeo.
36. Jensen, R.T., Miller, N.H. (2011), "Do consumer price subsidies really improve nutrition?" in Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 93, No. 4, pp. 1205-1223.
37. Jha, S., Ramaswami, B. (2010), "How can food subsidies work better? Answers from India and the Philippines", Asian Development Bank, Manila, Working Paper No. 221.
38. Johnson, R.B., Onwuegbuzie, A.J. (2004), "Mixed methods research: a research paradigm whose time has come" in Educational Researcher, Vol. 33, No. 7, pp. 14-26.
39. Kennedy, E.T., Alderman, H.H. (1987), Comparative Analyses of Nutritional Effectiveness of Food Subsidies and Other Food-Related Interventions, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC.
40. Khera, R. (2011), "Trends in diversion of grain from the public distribution system" in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 46, No. 21, pp. 106-114.
41. Kotwal, A., Murugkar, M., Ramaswami, B. (2011), "PDS forever?" in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 46, No. 21, pp. 72-76.
42. Kumar, S.K., Alderman, H. (1988), "Food consumption and nutritional effects of consumer-oriented food subsidies" in Pinstrup-Andersen, P. (Ed.), Food Subsidies in Developing Countries Costs, Benefits, and Policy Option, The Johns Hopkins University Press, London, pp. 36-48.
43. Lanjouw, P., Ravallion, M. (1995), "Poverty and household size" in Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, Vol. 105, No. 433, pp. 1415-1434.
44. Line, M. (2011), "Egypt's heavy burden of bread", The Jerusalem Post, 25 October.
45. Mahamallik, M., Sahu, B. (2011), "Identification of the poor: errors of exclusion and inclusion" in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 46, No. 9, pp. 71-77, special article.
46. Meng, X., Gregory, R., Wan, G. (2005), "Urban poverty in China and its contributing factors, 1986-2000" in Review of Income and Wealth, Vol. 53, No. 1, pp. 167-189.
47. Mohapatra, G. (2012), "Hunger and coping strategies among Kondh Tribe in Kalahandi District, Odisha (Eastern India)", Transcience, Vol. 3, No. 2.
48. Mooij, J.E. (1994), "Public distribution system as safety net: who is saved?", Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 119-121, 123-126.
49. Mooij, J.E. (2001), "Food and power in Bihar and Jharkhand: PDS and its functioning", Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 36, No. 34, pp. 3289-3295, 3297-3299.
50. Murgai, R., Zaidi, S. (2010), "Food assistance programs in Bangladesh", South Asia Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, The World Bank, Washington, DC, Working Paper No. 30862.
51. Osberg, L., Shao, J., Xu, K. (2009), "The growth of poor children in China 1991-2000: why food subsidies may matter" in Health Economics, Vol. 18, S1, pp. S89-S108.
52. Peel, M.J., Makepeace, G.H. (2009), "Propensity score matching in accounting research and Rosenbaum bounds analysis for confounding variables", working paper.
53. Pinstrup-Andersen, P. (1985), "Food prices and the poor in developing countries" in European Review of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 12, Nos 1/2, pp. 69-81.
54. Radhakrishna, R. (2005), "Food and nutrition security of the poor" in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 40, No. 18, pp. 1817-1821.
55. Rosenbaum, P.R. (2002), Observational Studies, Springer, New York, NY.
56. Rosenbaum, P.R., Rubin, D.B. (1983), "The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects" in Biometrika, Vol. 70, No. 1, pp. 41-55.
57. Scobie, G. (1983), Food Subsidies in Egypt: Their Impact on Foreign Exchange and Trade, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, Research Report 40.
58. Skoufias, E., McClafferty, B. (2001), "Is Progresa working? Summary of the results of an evaluation by IFPRI", Vol. 118, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, FCND Discussion Paper No. 118.
59. Srivastava, A. (2008), "Baseline and end line rounds done for WFP supported food for work programme in 5 states", CMS Working Paper Unpublished Report Submitted to United Nation World Food Program.
60. Strauss, J., Thomas, D. (1998), "Health, nutrition and economic development" in Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 766-817.
61. Subbarao, K., Bonnerjee, A., Braithwaite, J., Carvalho, S., Ezemenari, K., Graham, C., Thompson, A. (1997), Safety Net Programs and Poverty Reduction: Lessons from Cross-Country Experience, The World Bank, Washington, DC.
62. Sundaram, K. (2003), "On identification of households below poverty line in BPL census 2002: some comments on the proposed methodology" in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 38, No. 9, pp. 896-901.
63. Suryanarayan, M. (1995), "PDS: beyond implicit subsidy and urban bias-Indian experience" in Food Policy, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 259-278.
64. Svedberg, P. (2012), "Reforming or replacing the public distribution system with cash transfer" in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 47, No. 7, pp. 53-62.
65. Tang, Y. (1988), Choices: The Chinese Reform Since 1978, Economics Daily Publishing House, Beijing.
66. Tarozzi, A. (2005), "The Indian Public Distribution System as provider of food security: evidence from child nutrition in Andhra Pradesh" in European Economic Review, Vol. 49, No. 5, pp. 1305-1330.
67. Waldkirch, A., Ng, S., Cox, D. (2000), "Intergenerational linkages in consumption behaviour" in The Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 355-381.
68. Weingärtner, L. (2005), "The concept of food and nutrition security" in Klennert, K. (Ed.), Achieving Food and Nutrition Security Actions to Meet the Global Challenge a Training Course Reader, Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung, Bonn, pp. 3-26.