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Child marriage and infant mortality: causal evidence from Ethiopia

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  • Jorge Garcia-Hombrados

    (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
    Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research)

Abstract

This study assesses the causal effect of child marriage on infant mortality. Using age discontinuities in exposure to a law that raised the legal age of marriage for women in Ethiopia, the study estimates that a 1-year delay in a woman’s age at cohabitation during her teenage years reduces the probability of her first-born child dying during infancy by 3.8 percentage points. This impact is closely linked to the effect of delaying cohabitation on women’s age at first birth.

Suggested Citation

  • Jorge Garcia-Hombrados, 2022. "Child marriage and infant mortality: causal evidence from Ethiopia," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(3), pages 1163-1223, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:35:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s00148-021-00873-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-021-00873-y
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    Cited by:

    1. Le, Dung D. & Molina, Teresa & Ibuka, Yoko & Goto, Rei, 2024. "The Intergenerational Health Effects of Child Marriage Bans," IZA Discussion Papers 17089, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Garcia-Hombrados, Jorge & Novak, Lindsey, 2024. "The Economics of Abduction Marriage: Evidence from Ethiopia," IZA Discussion Papers 17242, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Lisa Cameron & Diana Contreras Suarez & Susan Wieczkiewicz, 2023. "Child marriage: using the Indonesian family life survey to examine the lives of women and men who married at an early age," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 725-756, September.
    4. Collin, Matthew & Talbot, Theodore, 2023. "Are age-of-marriage laws enforced? Evidence from developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    5. Nasser B. Ebrahim & Madhu S. Atteraya, 2023. "Inequalities of Infant Mortality in Ethiopia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(12), pages 1-12, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Child marriage; Infant mortality; Ethiopia; Legal age of marriage;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy

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