Urban Slum Growth and Human Health: A Panel Study of Infant and Child Mortality in Less-Developed Countries, 1990–2005

Abstract

Drawing from various bodies of social scientific literature and research, the authors assess the extent to which infant and child mortality rates in less-developed countries are affected by the percent of domestic populations living in urban slum conditions. Results of first-difference panel model estimates of 80 less-developed countries from 1990 to 2005 indicate that growth in the percent of populations living in urban slum conditions positively affects both forms of mortality, and the effects are much more pronounced for African countries than for less-developed countries in Latin America and Asia. These findings hold, net of economic development, fertility rates, world-economic integration, and other factors. Cross-sectional analyses of infant and child mortality rates in 2005 that include additional controls provide further evidence of the mortality/urban slum relationships found in the panel model estimates. The authors conclude by highlighting the theoretical implications of the results and describe the next steps in this research agenda.

Keywords:

• urban slums
• poverty
• infant mortality
• child mortality
• urbanization

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank the anonymous reviewers and editors for helpful suggestions on a prior draft.