IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v251y2020ics0277953620301210.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What effect do local political elites have on infant and child death? Elected and chiefly authority in South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Mershon, Carol

Abstract

Under what conditions do local political elites in new democracies promote citizen health? To address the question, this paper advances hypotheses grounded in prominent political science debates and assesses them against comprehensive, granular data from the most recent South African national census. The evidence rejects the hypotheses that relatively great partisan competition and relatively great popular participation boost local population health. The evidence provides conditional support for the hypotheses that local health outcomes are enhanced in municipalities where the national ruling party commands relatively great citizen backing and where hereditary chiefs are strong. In particular, where local strongholds of the national ruling party coincide with strong chiefly authority, the predicted probability of infant and under-five death over all households is reduced, as is the predicted probability of infant and under-five death among majority Black African households, holding other things equal. In these nuanced ways, the actors holding power at the local level matter for the survival of babies and children in South Africa. The paper contributes to scholarship on institutions in new democracies, chiefly authority, the conditions for infant and under-five survival, and the political determinants of health. In doing so, it demonstrates the value of drilling down to the local level to probe the political determinants of population health.

Suggested Citation

  • Mershon, Carol, 2020. "What effect do local political elites have on infant and child death? Elected and chiefly authority in South Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:251:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620301210
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112902
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953620301210
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112902?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. Defever, Fabrice & Imbruno, Michele & Kneller, Richard, 2020. "Trade liberalization, input intermediaries and firm productivity: Evidence from China," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    2. Min,Brian, 2015. "Power and the Vote," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107525382, October.
    3. Philip Keefer & Stuti Khemani, 2005. "Democracy, Public Expenditures, and the Poor: Understanding Political Incentives for Providing Public Services," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 20(1), pages 1-27.
    4. Masayuki Kudamatsu, 2012. "Has Democratization Reduced Infant Mortality In Sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence From Micro Data," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(6), pages 1294-1317, December.
    5. Chung, Haejoo & Muntaner, Carles, 2006. "Political and welfare state determinants of infant and child health indicators: An analysis of wealthy countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 829-842, August.
    6. Fair, Ray C, 1978. "The Effect of Economic Events on Votes for President," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 60(2), pages 159-173, May.
    7. Spyros Galanis, 2021. "Speculative trade and the value of public information," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 23(1), pages 53-68, February.
    8. Keene, Danya E. & Lynch, Julia F. & Baker, Amy Castro, 2014. "Fragile health and fragile wealth: Mortgage strain among African American homeowners," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 119-126.
    9. Rodriguez, Javier M. & Geronimus, Arline T. & Bound, John & Dorling, Danny, 2015. "Black lives matter: Differential mortality and the racial composition of the U.S. electorate, 1970–2004," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 136, pages 193-199.
    10. Wigley, Simon & Akkoyunlu-Wigley, Arzu, 2017. "The impact of democracy and media freedom on under-5 mortality, 1961–2011," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 237-246.
    11. Daron Acemoglu & Tristan Reed & James A. Robinson, 2014. "Chiefs: Economic Development and Elite Control of Civil Society in Sierra Leone," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 122(2), pages 319-368.
    12. Galanis, S. & Ioannou, C. & Kotronis, S., 2019. "Information Aggregation Under Ambiguity: Theory and Experimental Evidence," Working Papers 20/05, Department of Economics, City University London.
    13. Schultz, Kenneth A., 1995. "The Politics of the Political Business Cycle," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(1), pages 79-99, January.
    14. Paul Levine & Joseph Pearlman & Stephen Wright & Bo Yang, 2019. "Information, VARs and DSGE Models," School of Economics Discussion Papers 1619, School of Economics, University of Surrey.
    15. Verena Kroth & Valentino Larcinese & Joachim Wehner, 2016. "A Better Life for All? Democratization and Electrification in Post-Apartheid South Africa," STICERD - Economic Organisation and Public Policy Discussion Papers Series 60, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.
    16. Bratton, Michael, 2012. "Citizen Perceptions of Local Government Responsiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 516-527.
    17. Javier M. Rodriguez & Arline T. Geronimus & John Bound & Danny Dorling, 2015. "Black Lives Matter: Differential Mortality and the Racial Composition of the U.S. Electorate, 1970–2004," Mathematica Policy Research Reports a15cece510b4443cbc5526423, Mathematica Policy Research.
    18. William D. Nordhaus, 1975. "The Political Business Cycle," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 42(2), pages 169-190.
    19. Olson, Mancur, 1993. "Dictatorship, Democracy, and Development," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(3), pages 567-576, September.
    20. Burgard, Sarah A. & Treiman, Donald J., 2006. "Trends and racial differences in infant mortality in South Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(5), pages 1126-1137, March.
    21. Ostrom, Elinor, 1996. "Crossing the great divide: Coproduction, synergy, and development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1073-1087, June.
    22. Mackenbach, Johan P., 2013. "Political conditions and life expectancy in Europe, 1900–2008," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 134-146.
    23. Díaz-Cayeros, Alberto & Magaloni, Beatriz & Ruiz-Euler, Alexander, 2014. "Traditional Governance, Citizen Engagement, and Local Public Goods: Evidence from Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 80-93.
    24. Mamageishvili, A. & Schlegel, J. C., 2019. "Optimal Smart Contracts with Costly Verification," Working Papers 19/13, Department of Economics, City University London.
    25. Cornell, Stephen & Kalt, Joseph P., 2000. "Where's the glue? Institutional and cultural foundations of American Indian economic development," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 443-470.
    26. Robin L. Turner, 2014. "Traditional, Democratic, Accountable? Navigating Citizen-Subjection in Rural South Africa," Africa Spectrum, Institute of African Affairs, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 49(1), pages 27-54.
    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. McMurry, Nina, 2022. "From Recognition to Integration: Indigenous Autonomy, State Authority, and National Identity in the Philippines," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 116(2), pages 547-563.

    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. Fa, Kwok Sau, 2020. "A class of nonlinear Langevin equation with the drift and diffusion coefficients separable in time and space driven by different noises," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 545(C).
    2. Liu, Changqing & He, Yigang & Peng, Guanghan, 2019. "The stabilization effect of self-delayed flux integral for two-lane lattice hydrodynamic model," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 535(C).
    3. Torres-Vargas, G. & Fossion, R. & Méndez-Bermúdez, J.A., 2020. "Normal mode analysis of spectra of random networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 545(C).
    4. Kowalski, A.M. & Plastino, A., 2019. "A nonlinear matter-field Hamiltonian analyzed with Renyi and Tsallis statistics," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 535(C).
    5. Cebreiros, Florencia & Clavijo, Leonardo & Boix, Elzeario & Ferrari, Mario Daniel & Lareo, Claudia, 2020. "Integrated valorization of eucalyptus sawdust within a biorefinery approach by autohydrolysis and organosolv pretreatments," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 115-127.
    6. Algaba, Encarnación & Béal, Sylvain & Fragnelli, Vito & Llorca, Natividad & Sánchez-Soriano, Joaquin, 2019. "Relationship between labeled network games and other cooperative games arising from attributes situations," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    7. Nunes, Maria Eugênia Silva & de Mello Silva, Érica & Martins, Paulo H.L. & Florencio, João & Plascak, J.A., 2020. "Dynamics of the one-dimensional isotropic Heisenberg model with Dzyaloshinskii–Moryia interaction in a random transverse field," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 541(C).
    8. Wu, Jing Cynthia & Zhang, Ji, 2019. "A shadow rate New Keynesian model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-1.
    9. Aldakheel, F. & Ismail, M.S. & Hughes, K.J. & Ingham, D.B. & Ma, L. & Pourkashanian, M. & Cumming, D. & Smith, R., 2020. "Gas permeability, wettability and morphology of gas diffusion layers before and after performing a realistic ex-situ compression test," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 1082-1091.
    10. Zhu, Wen-Xing & Zhang, Jing-Yu & Song, Ze-Rui, 2019. "Study on braking process of vehicles at the signalized intersection based on car-following theory," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 523(C), pages 1306-1314.
    11. Liu, Hong & Gao, Yuhang & Tisdell, Clement A. & Wang, Fei, 2020. "Are housing property rights important for fertility outcomes in China? Empirical evidence and policy issues," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 211-223.
    12. Nagatani, Takashi, 2019. "Infection promotes species coexistence: Rock–paper–scissors game with epidemic on graphs," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 535(C).
    13. Jiang, Mengmeng & Westerholm, Maria & Qiao, Wei & Wandera, Simon M. & Dong, Renjie, 2020. "High rate anaerobic digestion of swine wastewater in an anaerobic membrane bioreactor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    14. Borjas, George J. & Cassidy, Hugh, 2019. "The wage penalty to undocumented immigration," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    15. Nataj, Sarah & Lui, S.H., 2020. "Superlinear convergence of nonlinear conjugate gradient method and scaled memoryless BFGS method based on assumptions about the initial point," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 369(C).
    16. Ishihara, Masamichi, 2020. "Derivation of density operators for generalized entropies with quantum analysis," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 543(C).
    17. Ou, Hui & Wang, Tao & Tang, Tie-Qiao, 2019. "Analysis of trip cost in a two-lane traffic corridor with one entry and one exit," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 524(C), pages 65-72.
    18. Birol, Fatih & Okogu, Bright E., 1997. "Purchasing-Power-Parity (PPP) approach to energy-efficiency measurement: Implications for energy and environmental policy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 7-16.
    19. Sen, Parongama, 2020. "Scaling and crossover behaviour in a truncated long range quantum walk," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 545(C).
    20. Gargiulo, Nicola & Peluso, Antonio & Aprea, Paolo & Marino, Ottavio & Cioffi, Raffaele & Jannelli, Elio & Cimino, Stefano & Lisi, Luciana & Caputo, Domenico, 2019. "Chromium-based MIL-101 metal organic framework as a fully regenerable D4 adsorbent for biogas purification," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 230-235.

    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:socmed:v:251:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620301210. 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/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    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.