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Quantifying the impact of economic crises on infant mortality in advanced economies

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  • Marcus Alexander
  • Matthew Harding
  • Carlos Lamarche

Abstract

Policy makers rely on a mix of government spending and tax cuts to address the imbalances in the economy during an economic crisis, by promoting price stability and renewed economic growth. However, little discussion appears to focus explicitly on quantifying the cost of economic crises in terms of human lives, especially the lives of the most vulnerable members of society, infants. Using a statistical approach that is robust to the increases of mortality in outlying years, we quantify the effect that economic crises, periods of prolonged economic recession, have on infant mortality. Moreover, we investigate whether different levels of public spending on health across advanced industrialized democracies can mitigate the impact of crises on infant mortality. We find that economic crises are extremely costly and lead to a more than proportional increase in infant mortality in the short-run. Substantial public spending on health is required in order to limit their impact.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcus Alexander & Matthew Harding & Carlos Lamarche, 2011. "Quantifying the impact of economic crises on infant mortality in advanced economies," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(24), pages 3313-3323.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:43:y:2011:i:24:p:3313-3323
    DOI: 10.1080/00036840903559620
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Giacomo De Giorgi & Matthew Harding & Gabriel Vasconcelos, 2021. "Predicting Mortality from Credit Reports," Papers 2111.03662, arXiv.org.

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