Undergraduate Economic Review
New Routes to Low Mortality in Poor Countries? Crossover in the Roles of Income and Female Education
Abstract
This paper explores how the cross-national determinants of infant mortality and life expectancy at birth have evolved over the past two decades. In particular, I examine the relative roles of female education and per capital income in the mortality decline. Contrasting the recent shift away from economic determinism by a large bloc in the literature, my findings indicate that per capita income has become a stronger determinant of mortality, while the revealed effect of female education has declined. Part, but not all, of the observed shift can be attributed to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This change may imply a shift back to the Malthusian paradigm, in which economic constraints are the prime forces at work behind the course of mortality.
Recommended Citation
Vogl, Tom
(2005)
"New Routes to Low Mortality in Poor Countries? Crossover in the Roles of Income and Female Education,"
Undergraduate Economic Review: Vol. 1:
Iss.
1, Article 4.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/uer/vol1/iss1/4