Do various dimensions of food security affect household welfare differently? An empirical investigation of India's national food security act

This paper examines the impact of various dimensions of food security under India's National Food Security Act on household welfare based on a primary survey over three different states. The two-stage residual inclusion approach is employed to control for any possible endogeneity and reverse causality problems between food security and welfare dimensions. Two = stage least square and generalized methods of moments are applied to supplement the results. The findings indicate that despite food subsidies, a staggering number of beneficiaries continue to be lying on the borderline of food security. Interestingly, the dimensions of accessibility and utilization seem to improve several welfare dimensions. However, the availability dimension merely improves the educational outcome. This flagship program creates an income effect on the consumption behavior of the infra-marginal households. Measures may be taken to widen such effects. In addition to availability, accessibility, and utilization, awareness building can lift more beneficiaries to the acceptable range of food consumption scores.