The health costs of ethnic distance: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Joseph Gomes

No 2014-33, ISER Working Paper Series from Institute for Social and Economic Research

Abstract: We show that ethnic distances can explain the ethnic inequalities in child mortality rates in Africa. Using individual level micro data from DHS surveys for fourteen Sub-Saharan African countries combined with a novel high resolution dataset on the spatial distribution of ethnic groups we show that children whose mothers have a higher linguistic distance from their neighbours have a higher probability of dying. Fractionalization reduces the probability of child death. We argue that fractionalization reflects a higher stock of knowledge and information leading to better health outcomes. Knowledge does not flow smoothly to linguistically distant groups. Linguistically distant mothers also have a lower probability of knowing about the oral rehydration product (ORS) for treating children with diarrhoea.

Date: 2014-10-17
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-gro and nep-hea
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Related works:
Journal Article: The health costs of ethnic distance: evidence from sub-Saharan Africa (2020)
Working Paper: The Health Costs of Ethnic Distance: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa (2020)
Working Paper: The Health Costs of Ethnic Distance: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa (2020)
Working Paper: The Health Costs of Ethnic Distance: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa (2017)
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