Determinant of Infant Mortality Rate: A Panel Data Analysis of African Countries

Abstract

This study examines the factors that affect the rate of mortality among infants under one year of age using panel data sets from the World Bank’s World Development Indicator database from the year 2000 to 2009 from 53 African countries. Using a random effect model in a 2SLS analytical method, results obtained after correcting for endogeneity showed that fertility rate significantly affect infant mortality rate in a positive way. Similarly, GDP per capita as a proxy for income, public health expenditure as a percentage of GDP, Prevalence of HIV and the participation of adult female in the labour force significantly affect infant mortality rate. Furthermore, of all the explanatory variables used in the analysis, fertility rate and GDP per capita had the most impact on infant mortality rate respectively. This study also confirms Chowdhury’s (1988) postulation that there is a dual causality between infant mortality rate and fertility rate.

Keywords:Infant mortality; Fertility rate; Health; Population; Africa