IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jpolmo/v37y2015i2p175-188.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fiscal decentralization and China's regional infant mortality

Author

Listed:
  • Brock, Gregory
  • Jin, Yinghua
  • Zeng, Tong

Abstract

Regional Chinese infant mortality rates (IMRs) are examined using a stochastic frontier method for the first time. The composite error term method yields estimates of large underreporting of IMRs over time and provinces in China during the past 30 years. China does not follow the standard growth paradigm of more growth leading to lower IMRs. Fiscal decentralization has not alleviated the problem of high IMRs. Both IMRs and the sex ratio at birth suggest reported data constitute a floor or minimal level of demographic distress across provinces with millions of missing females not fully included in the data. China's one-child policy leads to not only underreporting by families but also reporting abuse by local officials who want to be promoted. The hukou system and unbalanced government development policies exacerbate the issue.

Suggested Citation

  • Brock, Gregory & Jin, Yinghua & Zeng, Tong, 2015. "Fiscal decentralization and China's regional infant mortality," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 175-188.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jpolmo:v:37:y:2015:i:2:p:175-188
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpolmod.2015.03.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161893815000290
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2015.03.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Uchimura, Hiroko & Jütting, Johannes P., 2009. "Fiscal Decentralization, Chinese Style: Good for Health Outcomes?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 1926-1934, December.
    2. Robin Boadway & Anwar Shah, 2007. "Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers : Principles and Practice," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7171.
    3. David Howden & Yang Zhou, 2014. "China's One-Child Policy: Some Unintended Consequences," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 353-369, October.
    4. Ansley Coale & Judith Banister, 1994. "Five decades of missing females in China," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 31(3), pages 459-479, August.
    5. Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & McNab, Robert M., 2003. "Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(9), pages 1597-1616, September.
    6. Uchimura, Hiroko & Jutting, Johannes, 2007. "Fiscal Decentralization, Chinese Style: Good for Health Outcomes?," IDE Discussion Papers 111, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    7. Shang-Jin Wei & Xiaobo Zhang, 2011. "The Competitive Saving Motive: Evidence from Rising Sex Ratios and Savings Rates in China," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(3), pages 511-564.
    8. Wei Huang & Xiaoyan Lei & Yaohui Zhao, 2016. "One-Child Policy and the Rise of Man-Made Twins," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(3), pages 467-476, July.
    9. Chenggang Xu, 2011. "The Fundamental Institutions of China's Reforms and Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1076-1151, December.
    10. Anthopolos, Rebecca & Becker, Charles M., 2010. "Global Infant Mortality: Correcting for Undercounting," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 467-481, April.
    11. Sen, Amartya, 1998. "Mortality as an Indicator of Economic Success and Failure," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(446), pages 1-25, January.
    12. Abay Asfaw* & Klaus Frohberg & KS James & Johannes Jütting, 2007. "Fiscal decentralization and infant mortality: empirical evidence from r ural India," Journal of Developing Areas, Tennessee State University, College of Business, vol. 41(1), pages 17-35, September.
    13. Erwin Bulte & Nico Heerink & Xiaobo Zhang, 2011. "China's One‐Child Policy and ‘the Mystery of Missing Women’: Ethnic Minorities and Male‐Biased Sex Ratios," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 73(1), pages 21-39, February.
    14. Li, Kui-Wai & Liu, Tung, 2011. "Economic and productivity growth decomposition: An application to post-reform China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 366-373.
    15. Robalino, David A. & Picazo, Oscar F. & Voetberg, Albertus, 2001. "Does fiscal decentralization improve health outcomes? - evidence from a cross-country analysis," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2565, The World Bank.
    16. Stephan Klasen & Claudia Wink, 2002. "A Turning Point in Gender Bias in Mortality? An Update on the Number of Missing Women," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 28(2), pages 285-312, June.
    17. Hasan, Mohammad S., 2010. "The long-run relationship between population and per capita income growth in China," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 355-372, May.
    18. Quanbao Jiang & Shuzhuo Li & Marcus Feldman, 2011. "Demographic Consequences of Gender Discrimination in China: Simulation Analysis of Policy Options," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 30(4), pages 619-638, August.
    19. Cao, Shixiong & Wang, Xiuqing, 2010. "Unsustainably low birth rates: A potential crisis leading to loss of racial and cultural diversity in China," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 159-162, January.
    20. Dejian Lai, 2005. "Sex Ratio at Birth and Infant Mortality Rate in China: An Empirical Study," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 70(3), pages 313-326, February.
    21. Bauer, Paul W., 1990. "Recent developments in the econometric estimation of frontiers," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1-2), pages 39-56.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kayode Taiwo, 2024. "The Effect of Decentralisation on Access to Sanitation and Water Services: An Empirical Test using International Data," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 249(2), pages 157-180, June.
    2. Lin, Boqiang & Zhou, Yicheng, 2021. "How does vertical fiscal imbalance affect the upgrading of industrial structure? Empirical evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    3. Wenqiang Qian & Xiangyu Cheng & Guoying Lu & Lijun Zhu & Fei Li, 2019. "Fiscal Decentralization, Local Competitions and Sustainability of Medical Insurance Funds: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-21, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Simon Chang & Kamhon Kan & Xiaobo Zhang, 2024. "Too Many Men, Too-Short Lives: The Effect of the Male-Biased Sex Ratio on Mortality," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 59(2), pages 604-626.
    2. Hao, Yu & Liu, Jiahui & Lu, Zhi-Nan & Shi, Ruijie & Wu, Haitao, 2021. "Impact of income inequality and fiscal decentralization on public health: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 934-944.
    3. Jiménez-Rubio, Dolores & García-Gómez, Pilar, 2017. "Decentralization of health care systems and health outcomes: Evidence from a natural experiment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 69-81.
    4. Lee, Yiu-fai Daniel, 2008. "Do families spend more on boys than on girls? Empirical evidence from rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 80-100, March.
    5. Bao, Xiaojia & Galiani, Sebastian & Li, Kai & Long, Cheryl Xiaoning, 2023. "Where have all the children gone? An empirical study of child abandonment and abduction in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 95-119.
    6. Tung Liu, 2020. "Measuring Technical, Allocative inefficiency, and Cost Inefficiency by Applying Duality Theory," Working Papers 202001, Ball State University, Department of Economics, revised Jun 2020.
    7. Mark Rosenzweig & Junsen Zhang, 2014. "Co-residence, Life-Cycle Savings and Inter- Generational Support in Urban China," Working Papers 1039, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    8. Alexander Stimpfle & David Stadelmann, 2016. "Does Central Europe Import the Missing Women Phenomenon?," CREMA Working Paper Series 2016-04, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    9. Shang-Jin Wei & Xiaobo Zhang & Yin Liu, 2012. "Status Competition and Housing Prices," NBER Working Papers 18000, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. van der Kamp, Denise & Lorentzen, Peter & Mattingly, Daniel, 2017. "Racing to the Bottom or to the Top? Decentralization, Revenue Pressures, and Governance Reform in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 164-176.
    11. Andreas P. Kyriacou & Oriol Roca-Sagalés, 2019. "Local Decentralization and the Quality of Public Services in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 755-776, September.
    12. Franck, Raphaël & Rainer, Ilia, 2012. "Does the Leader's Ethnicity Matter? Ethnic Favoritism, Education, and Health in Sub-Saharan Africa," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 106(2), pages 294-325, May.
    13. Gaurav Datt & Cun Liu & Russell Smyth, 2022. "Missing Women in China and India over Seven Decades: An Analysis of Birth and Mortality Data from 1950 to 2020," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(9), pages 1807-1830, September.
    14. Anila Channa & Jean-Paul Faguet, 2016. "Decentralization of Health and Education in Developing Countries: A Quality-Adjusted Review of the Empirical Literature," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 31(2), pages 199-241.
    15. Akee, Randall K. Q. & Feir, Donn. L., 2016. "Excess Mortality, Institutionalization and Homelessness Among Status Indians in Canada," IZA Discussion Papers 10416, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Ding, Weili & Zhang, Yuan, 2014. "When a son is born: The impact of fertility patterns on family finance in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 192-208.
    17. Pierre Salmon, 2013. "Decentralization and growth: what if the cross-jurisdiction approach had met a dead end?," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 87-107, June.
    18. Kayode Taiwo, 2024. "The Effect of Decentralisation on Access to Sanitation and Water Services: An Empirical Test using International Data," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 249(2), pages 157-180, June.
    19. Stephan Klasen, 2008. "Missing Women: Some Recent Controversies on Levels and Trends in Gender Bias in Mortality," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 168, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    20. Shang-Jin Wei & Zhuan Xie & Xiaobo Zhang, 2017. "From "Made in China" to "Innovated in China": Necessity, Prospect, and Challenges," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(1), pages 49-70, Winter.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Infant mortality; China's regions; Fiscal decentralization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • O23 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Fiscal and Monetary Policy in Development
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East
    • P25 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jpolmo:v:37:y:2015:i:2:p:175-188. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505735 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.