Infant Mortality, Education and Financial Development: Evidence from World Level Data Using Heterogeneous Panel Granger Causality Analysis

Abstract

Education and financial development are crucial factors in achieving better health, including the reduction of infant mortality. This article investigates the causal relationship between education, financial development and infant mortality rate using annual data for 81 countries for the period 1980–2015 and employing the Emirmahmutoglu and Rose (2011) Granger causality test procedure for heterogeneous mixed panels. The results show that, individually and jointly, education and financial development Granger cause infant mortality in some countries across the major regions of the world. This suggests that improved education and a developed financial system are likely to reduce the infant mortality rate. JEL Codes: C33; E25; I