Excess Male Infant Mortality: The Gene-Institution Interactions
- (pp. 541-45)
Abstract
Excess male mortality at early ages is an important source of child inequality in most societies. We examine how improvement in the quality of political institutions affects the male survival disadvantage. Using data on twins in combination with a natural experiment on the development of African institutions, we quantify the distinct effects of biology and preconception environment on the infant mortality sex gap and find that these effects are important only in poor institutions. The analysis implies that improved institutions constrain genetic expression and mitigate preconception influences on excess male infant mortality, which is an optimistic finding with pragmatic implications.Citation
Pongou, Roland, Barthelemy Kuate Defo, and Zacharie Tsala Dimbuene. 2017. "Excess Male Infant Mortality: The Gene-Institution Interactions." American Economic Review, 107 (5): 541-45. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20171146Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D72 Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
- I12 Health Behavior
- I14 Health and Inequality
- I18 Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration