Food for Thought: The Socioeconomic Impact of Child Malnutrition and Maternal Health on the Academic Performance of Filipino School Children

with Vashti Alexandra H. Dominguez

The study intends to investigate the effects of child malnutrition and maternal health on academic performance of Filipino school children. Previous research has shown correlation while no studies have proven causality, and so the study aims to fill the gap. Academic performance is defined as educational attainment and cognitive development. For health variables, child malnutrition is represented by prevalence of wasting in children under age 5 and maternal health is demonstrated as the percentage of pregnant women receiving prenatal care. Income, as annual GDP growth, and government expenditure on health and on education are also examined as economic variables. A multiple linear regression estimation model, based mainly on Christopher Ruhm’s economic model on child outcomes, showed that maternal health had a significant impact on cognitive development while malnutrition was significant to educational attainment, whereas the most significant economic variable was government expenditure on education. The researchers therefore recommended a focus on government policy with respect to accessible prenatal care for mothers and proper nutrition for children.

This study applies a comparative political economy approach to institutional theory by considering institutional convergence and geopolitics as determinants of Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). Using country-level data for a sample of Asian countries, including Bamboo Network countries or countries with prominent overseas Chinese business networks in Southeast Asia, and other countries identified in the Varieties of Capitalism literature, the dynamic panel analysis from 2007 to 2019 finds that Chinese OFDI is significantly positively affected by the interaction between greater formal institutional distance from China and a similar state-backed institutional configuration. Conversely, active territorial disputes with China and formal arbitral proceedings against this country have significant and negative effects. This study finds that Chinese OFDI in general and specifically the reversal of the Bamboo Network, or the flowing back of Chinese capital into Southeast Asian economies that initially invested in China’s rise and integration into the global economy, are conditioned upon geopolitical tensions and convergence in terms of institutional configuration but not institutional distance.

Across the globe, the unprecedented coronavirus-19 (Covid-19) pandemic has triggered immediate response by national authorities to soften adverse economic impacts. Considering the situation’s novelty, this study incorporates an empirical approach to determinants of choice of extraordinary government and central bank response, controlling for macroeconomic, health, geographic, and institutional variables, and an analytical approach to the resulting emergence of varieties of state capitalism. Empirical findings using ordered and binary probit for a sample of advanced and emerging economies from the second to fourth quarters of 2020 suggest that government effectiveness, as a proxy for state capacity, is an important institutional determinant for extraordinary fiscal and unconventional monetary responses related to Covid-19. Different state interventions across countries suggest that varieties of state capitalism will continue to evolve and expand post-pandemic. Thus, a re-evaluation of macroeconomic and social policies, and their implications and a simultaneous focus on opportunities for international cooperation are recommended.