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Travelling the Distance: A GPS-Based Study of the Access to Birth Registration Services in Latin America and the Caribbean

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  • Corbacho, Ana
  • Osorio Rivas, Rene

Abstract

Birth registration is essential to guarantee a child's right to an identity. Without proper documentation of their identity, children have limited access to health, education and social assistance, laying the foundation for lifelong exclusion. Geographic distance to registration facilities is often cited as a significant barrier in qualitative surveys. Using Global Positioning System (GPS) data, this paper quantifies the impact of distance on birth registration in Bolivia, the Dominican Republic and Peru. The results suggest that increasing the distance to the nearest registry office by 25 kilometers is associated with a 4 percentage point increase in the probability of not registering a child's birth in Bolivia, and 12 percentage points in the Dominican Republic. These effects are as or more important than other socioeconomic characteristics that also affect birth registration, such as maternal education levels and the ability to deliver in a health center. In Peru, distance did not appear to be statistically significant, in line with both the lowest percentage of unregistered births and more even geographic distribution of access to civil registries than Bolivia and the Dominican Republic.

Suggested Citation

  • Corbacho, Ana & Osorio Rivas, Rene, 2012. "Travelling the Distance: A GPS-Based Study of the Access to Birth Registration Services in Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 3922, Inter-American Development Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:idb:brikps:3922
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    Cited by:

    1. Fredriksson, Anders, 2017. "Location-allocation of public services – Citizen access, transparency and measurement. A method and evidence from Brazil and Sweden," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1-12.
    2. Osorio Rivas, Rene & Brito, Steve & Corbacho, Ana, 2013. "Does Birth Underregistration Reduce Childhood Immunization?: Evidence from the Dominican Republic," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 4660, Inter-American Development Bank.
    3. Steve Brito & Ana Corbacho & Rene Osorio, 2017. "Does birth under-registration reduce childhood immunization? Evidence from the Dominican Republic," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-18, December.
    4. Corbacho, Ana & Brito, Steve & Osorio Rivas, Rene, 2012. "Birth Registration and the Impact on Educational Attainment," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 4060, Inter-American Development Bank.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    global positioning systems; birth registration; civil registries; distance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R20 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - General

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