The effects of improved nutrition, sanitation, and water quality on child health in high-mortality populations

A framework is set out for estimating the effects of interventions on child health that considers changes in the allocation of family resources, who among children survive (survival selectivity), and changes in the health of surviving children net of family resources. Estimates based on structural-equations semi-parametric models applied to data describing households from rural areas of two low-income countries indicate that conventional reduced-form estimates understate the effectiveness of improving sanitation facilities. This is due to the reduced allocation of household resources to children in households with better facilities but not to mortality selection, which is negligible.