Inequality, Social Capital, and Health in Bolivia, 2008-2009 (ICPSR 38898)
This randomized controlled trial examined the independent effect of village income inequality and individual income on individual health. Specifically, the study assessed how these two variables interacted with social capital to affect individual health. For the trial, 40 villages were selected for two experimental treatments.
In the first treatment, 13 villages were picked at random to receive 782kg of edible rice as in-kind income. The 782kg of rice was split equally between all households in the village. For the second treatment, another 13 villages were picked at random. Each village in the second treatment received the same amount of rice as the villages in the first treatment (782kg), but all of the rice went to the poorest 20 percent of households in the village, with each household getting the same amount of rice. All households in the remaining 14 villages and all households in the top 80 percent of the village income distribution of the second treatment acted as controls, and received 6kg of high-yielding, improved rice seeds.
The baseline survey was administered between February and May 2008, households received the rice between October 2008 and January 2009, and the end-line survey was administered between February and May 2009. Outcomes included anthropometric indicators of nutritional status, perceived health, and blood pressure.