ECON STATISTICS & COMP APPR FOOD...

“These essays by Alok Bhargava demonstrate the power of modern microeconometrics in addressing basic social problems. They also illustrate the value of grounding serious research in economics in the biology and science producing the phenomenon being studied. Bhargava has developed a powerful synthesis of economics and the biology of human nutrition. This is a collection of papers that richly repays a close read.”

“Quantitative analysis is important to establish causal links between policy changes and the resulting nutrition and health effects. In this book, Alok Bhargava presents a very rich selection of such quantitative analyses, drawing on both econometrics and applied health sciences. The author employs his thorough understanding of economics, econometrics, public health, and nutrition, together with an outstanding ability to utilize quantitative analytical models to advance our understanding of food security, nutrition, and health, and how these factors are influenced by policy. This book is a must read for students and researchers interested in quantitative economic analysis of nutrition and health.”

“This remarkable volume is a testament to Professor Bhargava's breadth of interest and depth of scholarship, over a quarter of a century of research. It spans fundamental econometric methodology and many substantive empirical applications in health, nutrition, development and demography. The fact that the articles were originally published in journals across various disciplines makes the collection especially valuable.”

“Professor Bhargava's papers demonstrate the advantage of combining path-breaking research in econometrics and its application to important real world problems. The relationship between food intake and health and productivity in developing countries is among the most important problems faced by governments and policy analysts. Other important issues such as effects of diet on child development are also carefully researched. I found the results in the papers in this book especially enlightening and recommend the book to readers interested in the problems of economic welfare in the developing world.”

“Alok Bhargava is the foremost econometrician presently working on food, nutritional and health issues. The statistical and technical rigor which is applied to the investigation of crucial nutritional and health questions within a multi-disciplinary framework makes this a truly unique volume.”

“As a tropical medicine expert and microbiologist specializing in parasitology, I am glad to endorse this collection of papers by Professor Alok Bhargava. While these were previously published in high impact journals, few social scientists have tackled the complex biological issues as adroitly as Professor Bhargava. Any scientist working on issues of food and health should have this collection on his or her desk to enhance scientific productivity.”

“The determinants of human health, particularly the long-term effects of nutrition, are challenging to uncover due to the long latencies involved and lack of controlled experiments or definitive epidemological data. What one can learn has to come from careful and sophisticated statistical and econometric analysis that can unravel multiple causes and trace nutritional effects over lifetimes. Alok Bhargava is the master of this subject, and his insights and methods have defined the field and provided persuasive evidence on the role that nutritrion plays in the health and productivity in less developed countries. Every development economist, epidemiologist, and public health specialist should be provided with a straight-back chair, a good reading light, and this book.”

“Few researcher have published up-front articles in leading journals in economics, epidemiology, nutrition, sociology, physiology, demography, as well as statistics. Alok Bhargava has, and this collection of his most prominent articles show why. Alok is also a leading bridge-builder across these disciplines, an urgent challenge for the international research community.”

“Reading Bhargava's articles on the biomedical basis of economic life in poor countries gives readers the thrill that really creative works are able to give. The analysis is invariably careful and the author never claims any more than is the warranted by the evidence. Most importantly, we learn from each piece. This is high quality social science.”

“Alok Bhargava has been one of the leading economists specializing in the impact of nutrition on health and productivity. He has brought to this work a highly sophisticated understanding of econometric issues, which he combined with far-ranging analysis of the epidemiology and physiology of health. The book is a tour through frontiers of a wide array of issues pertaining to health and economic growth.”

“Bhargava is unique in his ability to apply training as an economist to the economic and social consequences of nutritional inadequacies and deficiencies in human populations. In this volume he displays a sound knowledge of nutrition as well as economics and explores a wide range of themes at the interface of these two disciplines. His contributions in the sections on relationships between child nutrition and learning and behavior and on population health and economic growth are particularly important for public policy. In a final section he makes useful observations on the variables involved in the epidemic of overweight and obesity that is already damaging the health of most industrialized populations and is becoming a threat in the developing countries as well.”

“Alok Bhargava's contribution to development economics bears upon what should be one of the cornerstones of the discipline, namely health and in particular children health and nutrition. He initially approached this complex field as an economist and an econometrician but he soon found bridges between economics and health sciences rarely crossed by development experts. Having all his work in this area in a single volume will be extremely useful for those motivated to look beyond a narrow focus on economics in the analysis of development.”

“This work is must reading for anyone interested in food and nutrition science around the world.”

“… it could be utilized by those who want to study the impact of this author on economics, biostatistics, food science, and population health … this book offers a review for those interested primarily in economics modeling and its applications to health sciences.”

“… the author has provided a very valuable resource by collecting them into a single volume. This collection will be especially valuable as a reference for senior investigators, as a source of both information and examples for students, and as commentary on how the problems of food and health are currently being explored for mathematically and statistically inclined researchers in many fields.”

“The consistency, breadth and rigor of the scholarship displayed in these pages are admirable and beyond question … this book should be read, and can be read for pleasure, by most applied economists, not least as a reminder that investigative, knowledge-oriented research … can be rigorous, powerful and enduring. As a multidisciplinary volume that touches on unsolved issues of major contemporary importance, it should find a place in every university library.”

“This book's three main strengths are its emphasis on methodological rigor as applied to addressing important research questions on the relationship between cognitive development, health, nutrition and economic well being; exposing the reader to a large number of available datasets in developing countries; and bringing together Bhargava's cross-cutting work under one roof … advanced undergraduates in economics, statistics and policy oriented departments can benefit from it. Groups most likely to be interested in this work are going to be graduate departments of nutritional epidemiology, international health and economics, including agricultural economics. Researchers in the front-line of these fields are also going to be enthusiastic consumers of this volume.”

“This volume will help health researchers — irrespective of their discipline — in understanding various methodological challenges that are taken for granted, and 'state of art' econometric solutions in dealing with these issues. Personally, I found some of the examples, such as the ones using ICRISAT data, very useful. It is very difficult to sum up the book due to the magnificent amount of information. Even though methodological issues are at the heart of the chapters, one can appreciate the discussion and challenges addressed in each chapter.”

“This book makes a valuable addition as a reference book for feminist scholars across disciplines interested in quantitative work applied to important issues related to capabilities and social well-being … For these critical issues plus additional methodological contributions and applied topics, the book is likely to attract a strong feminist readership.”

“The collection is remarkable for the wide range of topics covered, and conveys Bhargava's commitment to tackling important policy questions in the area of food and health sciences by applying rigorous statistical techniques. This type of research, well presented in the 23 empirical articles in this volume, enhances our understanding of various economic aspects related to food and health sciences. An increased comprehension of such issues must surely result in more enlightened policy. Bhargava should accordingly be commended for applying his advanced empirical skills to a range of questions related to health and food sciences … Overall, I found this volume to be very stimulating and challenging reading.”

“Without doubt this volume is necessary reading for those involved in economic development issues and particularly in the fields of nutrition and health. It provides basic reference not only for applied econometric analysis of panel data in the food, nutrition, and health fields but also for approaches to disentangling the myriad of factors which often confound hypothesis testing and interpretations of results. It will no doubt be a sound reference and guide for years to come. Bhargava has filled an important scientific gap in research that falls in the domain of agricultural economics and his work needs to be more widely disseminated among such audience.”