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Female political representation and child health: Evidence from a multilevel analysis

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  • Quamruzzaman, Amm
  • Lange, Matthew

Abstract

This article explores the impact of female political representation in national parliaments on child health through a multilevel analysis. Using available Demographic and Health Surveys, we employ both cross-sectional data for 51 low- and middle-income countries and longitudinal data for 20 countries with multiple surveys. For both the cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, female representation is negatively related to infant mortality and positively related to measles vaccination status. To explore potential mechanisms, we control for state spending on health and analyze whether the impact of female representation depends on a critical mass of female representatives. The analysis offers evidence that state spending accounts for some of the mediation effect and that the impact of female representation on infant death depends on a critical mass.

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  • Quamruzzaman, Amm & Lange, Matthew, 2016. "Female political representation and child health: Evidence from a multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 48-57.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:171:y:2016:i:c:p:48-57
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.10.025
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    Cited by:

    1. Kumar, Santosh & Prakash, Nishith, 2017. "Effect of political decentralization and female leadership on institutional births and child mortality in rural Bihar, India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 171-178.
    2. Ross Macmillan & Naila Shofia & Wendy Sigle, 2018. "Gender and the Politics of Death: Female Representation, Political and Developmental Context, and Population Health in a Cross-National Panel," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(5), pages 1905-1934, October.
    3. Ziroat Mirziyoyeva & Raufhon Salahodjaev, 2022. "Women’s Parliamentary Representation and Sustainable Development Goals: a Cross-Country Evidence," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 871-883, April.
    4. Reeves, Aaron & Mackenbach, Johan P., 2019. "Can inequalities in political participation explain health inequalities?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 234(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Homan, Patricia, 2017. "Political gender inequality and infant mortality in the United States, 1990–2012," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 127-135.
    6. Hamid Noghanibehambari & Farzaneh Noghani, 2023. "Long‐run intergenerational health benefits of women empowerment: Evidence from suffrage movements in the US," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(11), pages 2583-2631, November.
    7. Miller, Michael & Toffolutti, Veronica & Reeves, Aaron, 2018. "The enduring influence of institutions on universal health coverage: An empirical investigation of 62 former colonies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 270-287.
    8. Rustagi, Niharika & Akter, Sonia, 2022. "The impact of women's political representation on child health outcomes during 1990–2020: Evidence from a global dataset," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).

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