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A comparison of determinants of infant mortality rate (IMR) between countries with high and low IMR.


 Weighted least squares regressions and pooled regression models were used to examine the determinants of infant mortality in developing countries. Data were obtained from the UNICEF's "State of the World's Children, 1987" for 87 countries with data on gross national product, percentage of literate females, percentage of low birth weight infants, daily caloric supply per capita as a percentage of the daily requirement, percentage of population with access to drinking water, total fertility rate, and the population to nurses ratio. Data was unavailable on breast feeding practices and government expenditures on health. Weighted procedures were used because of heteroscadascity problems: total fertility rate was associated with the variance in the error term. The results of pooled data showed that the female literacy rate had the strongest impact on infant mortality, followed by access to clean water and the number of population per nursing person. The impact of female literacy was still strong in high infant mortality countries when controls for gross national product were included. Puzzling findings were the negative sign of low birth weight and the insignificant effect of the total fertility rate. The suggestion was that low birth weight may be expressed already in the level of education and availability of health programs. Fertility's lack of wide variations may explain the insignificant effect. Findings showed that infant mortality was 22.19% higher in countries with gross national product under $500. In low infant mortality countries, none of the environmental variables significantly explained infant mortality. Low birth weight increased its impact on infant mortality among these countries but was still not significant. The findings suggested that infant mortality was most affected by low birth weight and amount of population per nurse in more affluent countries. Environmental factors were more important in explaining high levels of infant mortality in less affluent countries.
