The Indian Public Distribution System as Provider of Food Security: Evidence from Child Nutrition in Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

We study whether a sudden increase of the price of rice supplied by the Indian Public Distribution System in Andhra Pradesh, a large Indian state, had a negative impact on child nutrition. A few months after the price increase, a health survey started to record weight for a large sample of children. The data collection continued for several months, so that children measured later lived for a longer period of time in a less favorable price regime. Using different estimation techniques we find that longer exposure to high prices are not accompanied by worse nutritional status, as measured by weight-for-age.

Keywords: Food policy, child nutrition, in-kind transfers, program evaluation

JEL Classification: I12, I38, H42, H53, O15, Q18