Tradition and mortality: Evidence from twin infanticide in Africa

James Fenske and Shizhuo Wang

Journal of Development Economics, 2023, vol. 163, issue C

Abstract: Traditions can limit investment in early life health, even if they have been abandoned. We introduce data on historic twin infanticide and merge it with recent birth records from 23 African countries. We use the full sample and a border sample of adjacent societies with and without past twin infanticide. Both samples provide no evidence that past twin infanticide predicts greater differential twin mortality today. This null result is likely a consequence of suppression efforts by Africans, missionaries, and colonial governments. Where these channels were weak, we find evidence of greater twin mortality today.

Keywords: Non-persistence; Twins; Infanticide; Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 J13 N37 O12 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Working Paper: Tradition and mortality: Evidence from twin infanticide in Africa (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:163:y:2023:i:c:s0304387823000494

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103094

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