Silvia Prina

The importance of parental knowledge: evidence from weight report cards in Mexico.

The rise of childhood obesity in less developed countries is often overlooked. We study the impact of body weight report cards in Mexico. The report cards increased parental knowledge and shifted parental attitudes about childrens weight. We observe no meaningful changes in parental behaviors or childrens body mass index. Interestingly, parents of children in the most obese classrooms were less likely to report that their obese child weighed too much relative to those in the least obese classrooms. As obesity rates increase, reference points for appropriate body weights may rise, making it more difficult to lower obesity rates.

Who Benefited More from the North American Free Trade Agreement: Small or Large Farmers? Evidence from Mexico

This paper measures the impact of increasing trade openness between Mexico and the USA resulting from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on the income of small versus large farmers in Mexico. Benefits resulting from higher prices of export goods as well as losses incurred from greater import competition are considered. First, relating NAFTA cuts in trade restrictions to border prices of Mexican exports and imports, it is found that NAFTA‐induced tariff reductions decreased the border price of corn, Mexicos main agricultural import, and increased the border prices of tomatoes and melons, Mexicos main agricultural exports. Then, it is shown that the rise in fruit and vegetable prices benefited small farmers more than large farmers; while the drop in corn prices hurt large farmers more. Finally, the results from the regional‐level analysis suggests that the effects are stronger in the central states than in the northern and southern states.

Treatment Effect Accounting for Network Changes: Evidence from a Randomized Intervention

We study how social networks change as a result of an exogenous expansion in formal financial access and show how to estimate the effects of these changes on household outcomes. We use a unique household panel dataset that contains detailed information on the network of informal financial transactions before and after a field experiment that randomized access to savings accounts in Nepal. First, we provide evidence that the exogenous intervention affected the network of informal financial transactions. Second, we propose a dynamic model of peer effects in household expenditure that accounts for changes in the network due to the intervention. We show that disregarding such changes would lead to downward-biased peer-effect estimates. JEL codes: C31; D85; G2; O16Networks may rewire in response to interventions. We propose a measure of the total treatment effect for those situations where an intervention may affect the network structure. To build this measure, we develop a treatment response model allowing for dynamic peer effects. We illustrate our results using unique panel data on the network of informal financial transactions before and after a field experiment that randomized access to savings accounts in Nepal. Using data on expenditures in medicines and traditional remedies, we show that standard treatment effect measures neglecting network changes could be underestimated by over one third in this context.

Conditional Cash Transfers and Financial Access: Increasing the Bang for Each Transferred Buck?

This article discusses the potential benefits and challenges that may arise if CCT programmes were to deposit transfers directly into recipients’ savings accounts. Over 33 countries around the world use CCT programmes as a strategy to fight poverty. Depositing the transfers into a savings account could give millions of households access to the formal financial system. Using the scarce evidence to date, we highlight opportunities that could help the combination of CCTs and formal savings accounts to bring financial inclusion to their recipients.