Impact of Development aid on infant mortality: Micro-level evidence from Côte d’Ivoire

Authors

Didier Wayoro, Department of Economics, Indiana State University Terre HauteFollow
Léonce Ndikumana, Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts AmherstFollow

Working Paper Number

2019-07

Publication Date

2019

Abstract

The empirical literature has failed to reach consensus on the impact of aid on development outcomes based on aggregate cross-country analysis. This study follows the current trend in the literature on the effectiveness of aid to examine the impact of local-level aid on health outcomes. We combine data on World Bank’s geo-located aid projects with three rounds of Demographic Health Surveys from Côte d’Ivoire and use difference-in-difference estimation techniques to explore the effects of aid on infant mortality. We find that proximity to development aid projects is associated with reduced infant mortality. Our results are robust to mother fixed-effects estimations as well as water and sanitation projects. The evidence suggests that access to prenatal and postnatal health care are possible mechanisms through which aid may affect infant mortality.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/14422794

License

UMass Amherst Open Access Policy

Recommended Citation

Wayoro, Didier and Ndikumana, Léonce, "Impact of Development aid on infant mortality: Micro-level evidence from Côte d’Ivoire" (2019). UMass Amherst Economics Working Papers. 265.
https://doi.org/10.7275/14422794