The height production function from birth to early adulthood

Elisabetta De Cao, Tor Vergata University and Bocconi University

In this paper I specify a height production function to study the determinants of height from birth to early adulthood in the Philippines. I use a rich longitudinal data on Filipino children born in 1983 and followed for more than 20 years. The structure of the production function allows height to be the result of the accumulation of inputs over time. The results show that inputs from conception to birth are always relevant at each age of the children. Nutrition inputs have a positive but small effect on the child’s height. The shorter is the distance between the age when the input is applied and the age when height is measured, the higher is the impact on height. The younger is the child the bigger is the impact. Disease inputs have a strong negative effect on height the earlier they are experienced. The older is the child the stronger are the disease effects.