IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iuj/wpaper/ems_2026_11.html

How Transport Networks and Socio-Demographic Factors Influence Malaria Risk among Children: Evidence from Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Chun Yee Wong

    (International University of Japan)

  • Caren Miriel Oshome

    (International University of Japan)

Abstract

This study examines how transport networks and socio-demographic factors affect malaria infection rates among children in Kenya. An instrumental-variable complementary log-log model was employed to obtain robust estimates using 2020 Malaria Indicator Survey Data. Results indicate that each additional year of maternal education decreases malaria incidence in children by 0.40 percentage points. In areas with high road density, the likelihood of malaria increases by approximately 6.47 to 7.53 percentage points. However, heterogeneity analysis indicates that education reduces malaria risk by 0.57 percentage points in high-density areas. In rural areas, increased road density exacerbates malaria risk. Children in rural areas have an increased risk of about 10.6 percentage points in the third and fourth quartiles, while in urban areas, only children in the third quartile see a smaller increase of 3.27 percentage points. Thus, it is evident that investing in infrastructure may not lead to improved health outcomes unless women fs education and malaria control programs are also addressed. To effectively reduce the risk of malaria, it's essential to combine educational policies with public health strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Chun Yee Wong & Caren Miriel Oshome, 2026. "How Transport Networks and Socio-Demographic Factors Influence Malaria Risk among Children: Evidence from Kenya," Working Papers EMS_2026_11, Research Institute, International University of Japan.
    • Handle: RePEc:iuj:wpaper:ems_2026_11
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www2.iuj.ac.jp/workingpapers/index.cfm?File=EMS_2026_11.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2026
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aggarwal, Shilpa, 2021. "The long road to health: Healthcare utilization impacts of a road pavement policy in rural India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Kumar Gautam, Santosh & Shandal, Monica & Zucker, Ariel, 2026. "Roads to the Market or the Town Hall? New Evidence from India's PMGSY," IZA Discussion Papers 18468, IZA Network @ LISER.
    2. Basistha, Ahana & Dhillon, Amrita & Chaudhuri, Arka Roy, 2024. "Elections and Rural Road Construction: Evidence from India," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 712, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    3. Abhishek Dureja & Digvijay S. Negi, 2024. "Birth Order Effects in Maternal Health-Seeking Behavior: Evidence from India," Working Papers 118, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    4. Abu-Qarn, Aamer & Lichtman-Sadot, Shirlee, 2022. "Can greater access to secondary health care decrease health inequality? Evidence from bus line introduction to Arab towns in Israel," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    5. Aparajita Dasgupta & Devvrat Raghav, 2024. "Rural Roads, Climate Change, and the Dynamics of Structural Transformation: Evidence from India," Working Papers 122, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    6. Aparajita Dasgupta & Anahita Karandikar & Devvrat Raghav, 2024. "Road Access, Fertility, and Child Health in Rural India," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 50(1), pages 117-147, March.
    7. Markhof, Yannick & Wollburg, Philip & Zezza, Alberto, 2025. "Beyond the records: Data quality and COVID-19 vaccination progress in low- and middle-income countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    8. Jia Li, 2025. "Chinese Aid for Transportation Infrastructure and Child Health in Africa," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(12), pages 2255-2269, December.
    9. Manu Bansal, 2025. "Impact of rural roads on agricultural exports in India: An instrumental variable approach," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(3), pages 1003-1028, July.
    10. Singh, Tejendra Pratap & Yusuff, Olanrewaju, 2024. "Unlocking Health Potential: Effects of Free Maternal and Child Health Program," OSF Preprints y6wzt, Center for Open Science.
    11. Abu-Qarn, Aamer & Lichtman-Sadot, Shirlee, 2021. "Older Adult Health Following Greater Access to Secondary Health Care: Evidence from Bus Service Introductions to Arab Towns in Israel," IZA Discussion Papers 14490, IZA Network @ LISER.
    12. Luisito Bertinelli & Evie Graus & Jean-François Maystadt & Silvia Peracchi, 2025. "Roads and child health in Sub-Saharan Africa," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2025017, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    13. Shreya Biswas & Ritika Jain, 2026. "The Road to Safety - Examining the Nexus between Road Infrastructure and Crime in Rural India," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 24(1), pages 103-126, March.
    14. Seebacher, Moritz, 2023. "Pathways to progress: The complementarity of bicycles and road infrastructure for girls’ education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    15. Bu, Tao & Tang, Daisheng & Zhang, Zheng & Jiang, Chengkai, 2025. "Rural road improvement and individual health in China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    16. Sengupta, Reshmi & Rooj, Debasis, 2025. "Road connectivity and contraceptive choices: Empirical evidence from rural India," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    17. Kebede, Hundanol A., 2024. "Gains from market integration: Welfare effects of new rural roads in Ethiopia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    18. Ayona Bhattacharjee & Jay Dev Dubey, 2024. "Can Employment Empower Women in Rural India," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 43(1), pages 34-49, March.
    19. Kovacs, Roxanne, 2026. "Does free maternity care improve uptake and save lives? Quasi-experimental evidence from Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    20. Ahmed, Musa Hasen & Tesfaye, Wondimagegn Mesfin, 2025. "Infrastructure-driven healthcare advancements: Rural Roads and Maternal Health in Ethiopia," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 118(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:iuj:wpaper:ems_2026_11. 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: Toshiyuki Moriyama, Office of Academic Affairs (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/gsiujjp.html .

    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.