Sharing the pie: An analysis of undernutrition and individual consumption in Bangladesh

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Public Economics
Year: 2021
Volume: 200
Issue: C

Authors (3)

Brown, Caitlin (University of Manchester) Calvi, Rossella (not in RePEc) Penglase, Jacob (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Anti-poverty policies often aim to reach poor individuals by targeting poor households. However, intra-household inequality may mean some poor individuals reside in non-poor households. Using Bangladeshi data, we first show that undernourished individuals are spread across the household per-capita expenditure distribution. We then quantify the extent of total consumption inequality within families. We apply a novel approach to identify individual-level consumption within a collective household model and use the structural estimates to compute poverty rates separately for women, men, boys, girls, and the elderly. We find that women (especially older women) and children (later-born children in particular) face significant probabilities of living in poverty even in households with per-capita expenditure above the poverty line. This poverty misclassification is severe, as one third of poor individuals in our sample live in non-poor families.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:pubeco:v:200:y:2021:i:c:s0047272721000967
Journal Field
Public
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25