The Long-Term Cognitive Consequences of Early Childhood Malnutrition: The Case of Famine in Ghana

Abstract

We examine the role of early childhood health in human capital accumulation. Using a unique data set from Ghana with comprehensive information on individual, family, community, school quality characteristics and a direct measure of intelligence together with test scores, we examine the long term cognitive effects of the 1983 famine on survivors. We show that differences in intelligence test scores can be robustly explained by the differential impact of the famine in different parts of the country and children under two years during the famine were most adversely affected. We also account for model uncertainty by using Bayesian Model Averaging.

Keywords: cognitive development, early childhood malnutrition, famine, Bayesian model averaging, Ghana

JEL Classification: C11, C26, C52, I15, I25, O12, O15, O55