Type | Working Paper - World Bank Policy Research Working Paper |
Title | Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: The role of infrastructure |
Author(s) | |
Publication (Day/Month/Year) | 2003 |
URL | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.2.8048&rep=rep1&type=pdf |
Abstract | This paper provides an empirical analysis of the determinants of three child health outcomes related to the Millennium Development Goals: the infant mortality rate, the child mortality rate, and the prevalence of malnutrition. Using data from Demographic and Health Surveys, the paper goes beyond traditional cross-country regressions by exploiting the variability in outcomes and explanatory variables observed within countries between asset quintiles. The paper shows the relationships existing between the prevalence of diseases (diarrhea and malnutrition) and mortality. The findings suggest that apart from traditional variables (income, aWorldssets, education and direct health interventions), better access to basic infrastructure services has an important role to play in improving child health outcomes. The analysis of interaction effects between interventions also suggests the importance of combining interventions in order to meet the Millenium Development Goals. |