Local economic growth and infant mortality

Andreas Kammerlander; Günther G Schulze

doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102699

Local economic growth and infant mortality

J Health Econ. 2023 Jan:87:102699. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102699. Epub 2022 Nov 10.

Authors

Andreas Kammerlander¹, Günther G Schulze²

Affiliations

¹ University of Freiburg, Institute of Economics, Germany. Electronic address: andreas.kammerlander@vwl.uni-freiburg.de.
² University of Freiburg, Institute of Economics, Germany.

PMID: 36413959
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102699

Abstract

We estimate the effect of local economic growth on infant mortality. We use geo-referenced data for non-migrating mothers from 46 developing countries and a total of 128 DHS survey rounds and combine it with nighttime luminosity data at a granular level. Using mother fixed effects we show that an increase in local economic activity significantly reduces the probability that the same mother loses a child before its first birthday.

Keywords: Child mortality; Local economic growth; Nighttime lights.

MeSH terms

Economic Development*
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant Mortality*
Mothers
Probability
Surveys and Questionnaires