Dieter Von Fintel
Biographic Data
| ID | 352380 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Dieter Von Fintel |
| GIVEN NAMES | Dieter |
| FAMILY NAME | Von Fintel |
| SIGNATURE | VON FINTEL D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stellenbosch University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6771-1315 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 19 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The decline of child stunting in 122 countries
INTRODUCTION: Child stunting, a measure of malnutrition, is a major global health challenge affecting 148.1 million children in 2022. Global stunting rates have declined from 47.2% in 1985 to 22.3% in 2022; however, trends before the mid-1980s are unclear, including whether child stunting was previously prevalent in current high-income countries (HICs). We conducted a systematic review of child growth studies before 1990 to reconstruct historical…
Parental death, parental absence and stunting
This paper analyses the distinction in effects between parental death and parental absence on child stunting and hunger, by investigating regional inequalities in these outcomes in relation to the geography of parental absence, and in relation to the geography of single orphanhood. In addition, the spatial distribution of cash transfers is used to investigate the effect of public and private cash transfers on the health of children who are orphan…
Implementation matters
BACKGROUND: Undernutrition in early childhood can be reduced when large-scale, nutrition-sensitive programs are delivered with adequate dose, reach, fidelity, and recruitment. OBJECTIVES: This study (i) investigates the implementation and impact pathways of four nutrition-sensitive programs in Kebbi and Anambra states, Nigeria: Early Childhood Development Education (ECCDE), Environmental Sanitation, Skills Acquisition, and Agricultural Transforma…
Malaria prophylaxis stock-outs and birth- and maternal outcomes in Zimbabwe
It is crucial to ensure the availability of Sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine drugs at the facility level. We recommend that policymakers invest in pharmaceutical information systems and stock ordering systems to prioritise malaria prevention and ensure frequent availability of malaria prophylaxis in Zimbabwe. On the demand-side, more frequent facility visits can also help to ensure adherence
Income Mobility before Industrialization
Attempts to measure social mobility before the twentieth century are frequently hampered by limited data. In this paper, we use a new source – annual, matched tax censuses over more than 70 years – to calculate intragenerational income mobility within a preindustrial, settler society, the Dutch and British Cape Colony at the southern tip of Africa. Our unique source allows us to measure income mobility along several dimensions, helping to disenta…
Supporting Early Childhood Development through Multi-dimensional Service Delivery in South Africa
There is a growing call to reduce environmental risk factors for children in LMICs and to provide children and parents in these places with the services they need to promote healthy development. In aid of this, we create an index of multidimensional service delivery for children in a developing country context. This approach is motivated by the consensus in the literature that early childhood development (ECD) is multidimensional in nature, and t…
A Qualitative Exploratory Study of the Political Commitment for Nutrition Programming
In Nigeria, varying levels of malnutrition across states present a critical challenge to public health, demanding tailored policy responses. This paper delves into the specific issues and dynamics influencing nutrition programs in the country. Advocating for nutrition-sensitive actions requires analyzing context-specific political commitment. This article presents a case study on two Nigerian states with varying malnutrition profiles to explore t…
Waar is beter dorp in Zuid Africa dan Stellenbos?’
In 1825, an unnamed Stellenbosch official paused his tax collection duties to pen a poem in the margins of the opgaafrol. His verses capture the frustrations of colonial administration but the records themselves–annual tax censuses spanning 1685 to 1844–offer a far richer window into the Cape Colony’s social and economic history. First established by the Dutch East India Company and later maintained under Batavian and British rule, the opgaafroll…
Childhood circumstances, social mobility and the obesity transition
Child nutrition and farm input subsidies
Stunting, double orphanhood and unequal access to public services in democratic South Africa
Orphans who lack household or community support face significant socio-economic disadvantages. In particular, they are at greater risk of malnutrition and stunting in developing countries. Children who have no living parents, also called double orphans, are most likely to require support from extended families or public institutions. This paper explores how WASH infrastructure, and public health and social services relate to stunting. It is one o…
The Complementarity Between Property Rights and Market Access for Crop Cultivation in Southern Rhodesia
Agriculture plays a central role in the efforts to fight poverty and achieve economic growth. This is especially relevant in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where the majority of the population lives in rural areas. A key issue that is generally believed to unlock agricultural potential is the recognition of property rights through land titling, yet there is no overwhelming empirical evidence to support this in the case of SSA. This paper investigates a…
Errors in Recalling Childhood Socio-economic Status
Slave prices and productivity at the Cape of Good Hope from 1700 to 1725
A Retrospective Look at How Well a Macro‐Micro Model Can Analyze the Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on a Developing Country
This article is a follow‐up to one that looked at the impact of the economic crisis on child poverty in South Africa using a macro–micro modeling technique. The current article's contribution is to position the results of the first article in the context of the actual effects of the crisis. Hence, this article offers a comparative analysis between the results of the modeling with the actual observed outcomes. It also offers explanations for why s…
The Impact of the International Economic Crisis on Child Poverty in South Africa
This article provides insights into the magnitude of the shocks associated with the recent global economic crisis in South Africa, and the extent of fragility in terms of poverty levels and, particularly, child well-being. The analysis combines macro-economic and micro-economic tools and shows that the impact of the economic crisis was not severe on children's poverty headcount, but that material welfare declined across large parts of the distrib…
Settler skills and colonial development
The institutional literature emphasizes local conditions in explaining divergent colonial development. We posit that this view can be enriched by an important supply-side cause: the skills with which the settlers arrive. The Huguenots who arrived at the Cape Colony in 1688/9, we argue, possessed skills different from those of the incumbent farmers, and this enabled them to become more productive wine-makers. We demonstrate this by showing that th…
The Wealth of Cape Colony Widows
Losing a household member is usually negatively associated with welfare, especially if that person is a breadwinner. Coping methods include disposal of assets to generate cash flow, while other households increase their labour supply. This paper considers a specific case in a pre-industrial society, presenting evidence where male mortality was associated with distinct benefits for widows. In the Cape Colony (during the Dutch East India Company oc…
A History with Evidence
The arrival of European settlers at the Cape in 1652 marked the beginning of what would seemingly become an extremely unequal society, with ramifications into modern-day South Africa. In this paper, we measure the income inequality at three different points over the first century of Dutch rule at the Cape. What emerges from the study is a society characterised by severe inequality, with a relatively (and increasingly) poor farming population comb…
The dynamics of inequality in a newly settled, pre-industrial society
Settler skills and colonial development
The institutional literature emphasizes local conditions in explaining divergent colonial development. We posit that this view can be enriched by an important supply-side cause: the skills with which the settlers arrive. The Huguenots who arrived at the Cape Colony in 1688/9, we argue, possessed skills different from those of the incumbent farmers, and this enabled them to become more productive wine-makers. We demonstrate this by showing that th…
A History with Evidence
The arrival of European settlers at the Cape in 1652 marked the beginning of what would seemingly become an extremely unequal society, with ramifications into modern-day South Africa. In this paper, we measure the income inequality at three different points over the first century of Dutch rule at the Cape. What emerges from the study is a society characterised by severe inequality, with a relatively (and increasingly) poor farming population comb…
Errors in Recalling Childhood Socio-economic Status
The Impact of the International Economic Crisis on Child Poverty in South Africa
This article provides insights into the magnitude of the shocks associated with the recent global economic crisis in South Africa, and the extent of fragility in terms of poverty levels and, particularly, child well-being. The analysis combines macro-economic and micro-economic tools and shows that the impact of the economic crisis was not severe on children's poverty headcount, but that material welfare declined across large parts of the distrib…
The Wealth of Cape Colony Widows
Losing a household member is usually negatively associated with welfare, especially if that person is a breadwinner. Coping methods include disposal of assets to generate cash flow, while other households increase their labour supply. This paper considers a specific case in a pre-industrial society, presenting evidence where male mortality was associated with distinct benefits for widows. In the Cape Colony (during the Dutch East India Company oc…
The dynamics of inequality in a newly settled, pre-industrial society
A History with Evidence
The arrival of European settlers at the Cape in 1652 marked the beginning of what would seemingly become an extremely unequal society, with ramifications into modern-day South Africa. In this paper, we measure the income inequality at three different points over the first century of Dutch rule at the Cape. What emerges from the study is a society characterised by severe inequality, with a relatively (and increasingly) poor farming population comb…
The Wealth of Cape Colony Widows
Losing a household member is usually negatively associated with welfare, especially if that person is a breadwinner. Coping methods include disposal of assets to generate cash flow, while other households increase their labour supply. This paper considers a specific case in a pre-industrial society, presenting evidence where male mortality was associated with distinct benefits for widows. In the Cape Colony (during the Dutch East India Company oc…
Settler skills and colonial development
The institutional literature emphasizes local conditions in explaining divergent colonial development. We posit that this view can be enriched by an important supply-side cause: the skills with which the settlers arrive. The Huguenots who arrived at the Cape Colony in 1688/9, we argue, possessed skills different from those of the incumbent farmers, and this enabled them to become more productive wine-makers. We demonstrate this by showing that th…
Slave prices and productivity at the Cape of Good Hope from 1700 to 1725
A Retrospective Look at How Well a Macro‐Micro Model Can Analyze the Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on a Developing Country
This article is a follow‐up to one that looked at the impact of the economic crisis on child poverty in South Africa using a macro–micro modeling technique. The current article's contribution is to position the results of the first article in the context of the actual effects of the crisis. Hence, this article offers a comparative analysis between the results of the modeling with the actual observed outcomes. It also offers explanations for why s…
The Impact of the International Economic Crisis on Child Poverty in South Africa
This article provides insights into the magnitude of the shocks associated with the recent global economic crisis in South Africa, and the extent of fragility in terms of poverty levels and, particularly, child well-being. The analysis combines macro-economic and micro-economic tools and shows that the impact of the economic crisis was not severe on children's poverty headcount, but that material welfare declined across large parts of the distrib…
Errors in Recalling Childhood Socio-economic Status
The Complementarity Between Property Rights and Market Access for Crop Cultivation in Southern Rhodesia
Agriculture plays a central role in the efforts to fight poverty and achieve economic growth. This is especially relevant in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where the majority of the population lives in rural areas. A key issue that is generally believed to unlock agricultural potential is the recognition of property rights through land titling, yet there is no overwhelming empirical evidence to support this in the case of SSA. This paper investigates a…
Stunting, double orphanhood and unequal access to public services in democratic South Africa
Orphans who lack household or community support face significant socio-economic disadvantages. In particular, they are at greater risk of malnutrition and stunting in developing countries. Children who have no living parents, also called double orphans, are most likely to require support from extended families or public institutions. This paper explores how WASH infrastructure, and public health and social services relate to stunting. It is one o…
Child nutrition and farm input subsidies
Childhood circumstances, social mobility and the obesity transition
A Qualitative Exploratory Study of the Political Commitment for Nutrition Programming
In Nigeria, varying levels of malnutrition across states present a critical challenge to public health, demanding tailored policy responses. This paper delves into the specific issues and dynamics influencing nutrition programs in the country. Advocating for nutrition-sensitive actions requires analyzing context-specific political commitment. This article presents a case study on two Nigerian states with varying malnutrition profiles to explore t…
Waar is beter dorp in Zuid Africa dan Stellenbos?’
In 1825, an unnamed Stellenbosch official paused his tax collection duties to pen a poem in the margins of the opgaafrol. His verses capture the frustrations of colonial administration but the records themselves–annual tax censuses spanning 1685 to 1844–offer a far richer window into the Cape Colony’s social and economic history. First established by the Dutch East India Company and later maintained under Batavian and British rule, the opgaafroll…
Parental death, parental absence and stunting
This paper analyses the distinction in effects between parental death and parental absence on child stunting and hunger, by investigating regional inequalities in these outcomes in relation to the geography of parental absence, and in relation to the geography of single orphanhood. In addition, the spatial distribution of cash transfers is used to investigate the effect of public and private cash transfers on the health of children who are orphan…
Implementation matters
BACKGROUND: Undernutrition in early childhood can be reduced when large-scale, nutrition-sensitive programs are delivered with adequate dose, reach, fidelity, and recruitment. OBJECTIVES: This study (i) investigates the implementation and impact pathways of four nutrition-sensitive programs in Kebbi and Anambra states, Nigeria: Early Childhood Development Education (ECCDE), Environmental Sanitation, Skills Acquisition, and Agricultural Transforma…
Malaria prophylaxis stock-outs and birth- and maternal outcomes in Zimbabwe
It is crucial to ensure the availability of Sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine drugs at the facility level. We recommend that policymakers invest in pharmaceutical information systems and stock ordering systems to prioritise malaria prevention and ensure frequent availability of malaria prophylaxis in Zimbabwe. On the demand-side, more frequent facility visits can also help to ensure adherence
Income Mobility before Industrialization
Attempts to measure social mobility before the twentieth century are frequently hampered by limited data. In this paper, we use a new source – annual, matched tax censuses over more than 70 years – to calculate intragenerational income mobility within a preindustrial, settler society, the Dutch and British Cape Colony at the southern tip of Africa. Our unique source allows us to measure income mobility along several dimensions, helping to disenta…
Supporting Early Childhood Development through Multi-dimensional Service Delivery in South Africa
There is a growing call to reduce environmental risk factors for children in LMICs and to provide children and parents in these places with the services they need to promote healthy development. In aid of this, we create an index of multidimensional service delivery for children in a developing country context. This approach is motivated by the consensus in the literature that early childhood development (ECD) is multidimensional in nature, and t…
The decline of child stunting in 122 countries
INTRODUCTION: Child stunting, a measure of malnutrition, is a major global health challenge affecting 148.1 million children in 2022. Global stunting rates have declined from 47.2% in 1985 to 22.3% in 2022; however, trends before the mid-1980s are unclear, including whether child stunting was previously prevalent in current high-income countries (HICs). We conducted a systematic review of child growth studies before 1990 to reconstruct historical…
Economics (16 works) · Economic growth (13 works) · Geography (9 works) · Political science (8 works) · Business (6 works) · Child Nutrition and Water Access (6 works) · Development economics (6 works) · Medicine (6 works) · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare (6 works) · Sociology (6 works)