Why is Infant Mortality Higher in the US than in Europe? / Alice Chen, Emily Oster, Heidi Williams.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chen, Alice.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Oster, Emily.

Williams, Heidi.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w20525.

NBER working paper series no. w20525

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2014.

Summary:

The US has higher infant mortality than peer countries. In this paper, we combine micro-data from the US with similar data from four European countries to investigate this US infant mortality disadvantage. The US disadvantage persists after adjusting for potential differential reporting of births near the threshold of viability. While the importance of birth weight varies across comparison countries, relative to all comparison countries the US has similar neonatal (<1 month) mortality but higher postneonatal (1-12 months) mortality. We document similar patterns across Census divisions within the US. The postneonatal mortality disadvantage is driven by poor birth outcomes among lower socioeconomic status individuals.

Notes:

Print version record

September 2014.