Neonatal Death in India: Birth Order in a Context of Maternal Undernutrition

Diane Coffey () and Dean Spears ()
Additional contact information
Diane Coffey: rice Institute
Dean Spears: University of Texas at Austin

No 12288, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We document a novel fact about neonatal death, or death in the first month of life. Globally, neonatal mortality is disproportionately concentrated in India. We identify a large effect of birth order on neonatal mortality that is unique to India: later-born siblings have a steep survival advantage relative to the birth order gradient in other developing countries. We show that India's high prevalence of maternal undernutrition and its correlation with age and childbearing can explain this pattern. We find that Indian mothers exit the underweight body mass range at an internationally comparatively high rate as they progress through childbearing careers.

Keywords: birth order; infant mortality; neonatal mortality; maternal nutrition; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 77 pages
Date: 2019-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-hea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published - published in: Economic Journal, 2021, 131 (638), 2478 - 2507

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