Saving Lives through Technology: Mobile Phones and Infant Mortality

Justice Tei Mensah, Kibrom Tafere and Kibrom A. Abay

No 9978, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Digital technologies can expand access to health services to underserved populations. This paper leverages mobile network expansion and survey data spanning two decades to study the impact of access to mobile phones on infant mortality in Africa. Using plausibly exogenous variations in lightning intensity and (sub)regional convergence in mobile penetration as instrumental variables for mobile network expansion, the analysis finds that mobile phones significantly reduce infant mortality. A 10 percentage point increase in mobile coverage is associated with a 0.45 percentage point reduction in infant mortality. Improvements in health knowledge and behavior and health care utilization appear to be plausible channels.

Keywords: Early Child and Children's Health; Reproductive Health; Health Care Services Industry; Telecommunications Infrastructure; Law and Justice Institutions; Health Service Management and Delivery (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-03-21
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-pay
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9978

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