The Determinants of Child Mortality Reduction in the Middle East and North Africa

doi:10.1080/17938120.2016.1230831

Publication:
The Determinants of Child Mortality Reduction in the Middle East and North Africa

dc.contributor.author	Iqbal, Farrukh
dc.contributor.author	Kiendrebeogo, Youssouf
dc.date.accessioned	2016-11-03T18:54:43Z
dc.date.available	2016-11-03T18:54:43Z
dc.date.issued	2016-09-21
dc.description.abstract	Although child mortality rates have declined all across the developing world over the past 40 years, they have fallen the most in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. We investigate the causes of this through an econometric model that differs from previous studies in using the change in child mortality, rather than its level, as the dependent variable. We show that the process of child mortality decline has been characterized by convergence, whereby countries with higher levels of initial child mortality have experienced faster declines than those with lower levels. In addition, we find that public spending on health, growth rates of income and levels of caloric adequacy are robust determinants of the change in child mortality over time. Neither initial mortality status nor caloric adequacy is likely to remain as important for the MENA region in the future as they have been in the past. The region has been benefitting less and less from the convergence momentum conferred by high initial child mortality as its mortality levels have declined over time and this will continue into the future. With regard to caloric adequacy, the region is unlikely to experience significant improvements in the future as it has already achieved a high level of food sufficiency. Accordingly, most countries in the region must look to achieving more rapid income growth and higher rates of appropriately targeted public spending on health in order to achieve further child mortality reductions in the future.	en
dc.identifier.citation	Middle East Development Journal
dc.identifier.doi	10.1596/25331
dc.identifier.issn	1793-8120
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10986/25331
dc.language.iso	en_US
dc.publisher	Taylor and Francis
dc.rights	CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holder	World Bank
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/
dc.subject	child mortality
dc.subject	caloric adequacy
dc.subject	public health spending
dc.subject	economic growth
dc.title	The Determinants of Child Mortality Reduction in the Middle East and North Africa	en
dc.type	Journal Article	en
dc.type	Article de journal	fr
dc.type	Artículo de revista	es
dspace.entity.type	Publication
okr.associatedcontent	http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17938120.2016.1230831 Journal website (version of record)
okr.date.disclosure	2018-03-21
okr.doctype	Publications & Research::Journal Article
okr.doctype	Publications & Research
okr.externalcontent	External Content
okr.identifier.doi	10.1080/17938120.2016.1230831
okr.identifier.doi	10.1596/25331
okr.identifier.report	111070
okr.journal.nbpages	230-47
okr.language.supported	en
okr.peerreview	Academic Peer Review
okr.region.administrative	Middle East and North Africa
okr.region.geographical	Middle East
okr.region.geographical	North Africa
okr.topic	Health, Nutrition and Population::Early Child and Children's Health
okr.topic	Health, Nutrition and Population::Health Monitoring & Evaluation
okr.topic	Health, Nutrition and Population::Nutrition
okr.topic	Poverty Reduction::Poverty Reduction Strategies
okr.unit	Office of the Chief Economist, Middle East and North Africa (MNACE)
okr.volume	8(2)