Twenty Year Economic Impacts of Deworming" joint with Sarah Baird, Joan Hamory Hicks, Michael Kremer and Michael Walker

Abstract:

This study exploits a randomized school health intervention that provided deworming treatment to Kenyan children and utilizes longitudinal data to estimate impacts on economic outcomes up to 20 years later. The effective respondent tracking rate was 84%. Individuals who received 2 to 3 additional years of childhood deworming experience an increase of 14% in consumption expenditure, 18% in hourly earnings, 8% in non-agricultural work, and are 9% more likely to live in urban areas. Most effects are concentrated among males. Given deworming's low cost, a conservative annualized social internal rate of return estimate is 37%.