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Abstract
Seasonal fluctuations in early life circumstances can be associated with later differences in
health outcomes. Other evidence finds that access to markets and services can help rural
households improve their well-being. This study links these two phenomena, using spatial
diversity across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to investigate whether proximity to
towns confers resilience against seasonal determinants of health. To identify a potentially causal
effect, we use the random component of birth timing relative to the intensity of seasonal climate
fluctuations and households’ distance to the nearest town. We find that that children in
households closer to towns have significantly smaller impact of their birth timing on their
subsequent heights and risk of death. The protective effect of towns could involve a variety of
mechanisms such as consumption smoothing, disease cycles, health services and public
assistance. Future work might find ways to distinguish among these channels using additional
data.