Short-Term Impacts of Solar Lanterns on Child Health: Experimental Evidence from Bangladesh
在孟加拉国无电地区开展16个月随机实验，发现太阳能灯对学龄儿童的眼部红肿和刺激有轻微改善，但对呼吸道症状无显著影响。
We implemented a 16-month randomised field experiment in unelectrified areas of Bangladesh to identify health impacts of solar lanterns among school-aged children. Our analysis of various health-related indicators – self-reporting, spirometers, and professional medical checkups – showed modest improvements in eye redness and irritation but no noticeable improvement in respiratory symptoms among treated students. Varying the number of solar products received within treatment households did not alter these results. This limited health benefit was not caused by nonutilisation of the products by treated children, spillover effects from treated to control students, or contamination resulting from unfavourable family cooking environments.