Can the Major Public Works Scheme Buffer Negative Shocks in Early Childhood? Evidence from Andhra Pradesh, India

The study examines the role of one of the largest public works program in the world-the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) - in buffering the negative effects of early childhood exposure to rainfall shocks on long-term health outcomes. Exploiting the spatial and temporal variation in coverage of the scheme, the study estimates the extent to which nutritional insults in early childhood can be offset in the presence of the policy. The study integrates detailed administrative records of rainfall shock and phase-wise roll-out information of NREGS with an unique household level panel data-the Young Lives survey- conducted over three waves (2002, 2006-07 and 2009-10) in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, which follows two age cohorts of children every four years. Using child fixed effects estimation the study finds modest but significant buffering impacts of the scheme on height-for-age of children in the younger cohort, which is robust to alternative measures of drought and coverage. We find this mitigating effect is significant for kids with lower educated mothers and more pronounced for girls than boys.