Inequality of Opportunity in Accessing Maternal and Newborn Healthcare Services: Evidence from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey

Cinzia Di Novi and Harshita Thakare
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Harshita Thakare: University of Pavia

No 196, DEM Working Papers Series from University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Management

Abstract: Though there has been a significant reduction in the number of under-five deaths globally over the years, it is still a major public health problem in developing countries. Under-five mortality is known to be the result of a wide variety of inputs, among which the availability of maternal and child health services. However, their coverage and distribution, in low- and middle-income countries, continue to remain inadequate and characterized by significant inequalities. The main aim of this study is to investigate the causes of inequality in accessing the basic maternal and newborn healthcare services in Bangladesh. To this end, we use nationally representative cross-sectional data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS), 2014. Our study builds on the Human Opportunity Index (HOI), developed at the World Bank (2006), which measures the total contribution of individual socioeconomic and demographic circumstances to inequality of opportunity in accessing basic services. We use the Shapley decomposition method to further analyze the marginal contributions of circumstances to the inequality. Our findings reveal that a mother’s education, wealth index and place of residence, are closely associated with access to basic maternal and newborn healthcare services.

Keywords: Inequality; healthcare access; opportunities; circumstances; Human Opportunity Index. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I14 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32
Date: 2020-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-dev
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Inequality of Opportunity in Accessing Maternal and Newborn Healthcare Services: Evidence from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (2022)
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