Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/126470 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
ISER Working Paper Series No. 2014-33
Publisher: 
University of Essex, Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), Colchester
Abstract: 
We show that ethnic distances can explain the ethnic inequalities in child mortality rates in Africa. Using individual level micro data from DHS surveys for fourteen Sub-Saharan African countries combined with a novel high resolution dataset on the spatial distribution of ethnic groups we show that children whose mothers have a higher linguistic distance from their neighbours have a higher probability of dying. Fractionalization reduces the probability of child death. We argue that fractionalization re ects a higher stock of knowledge and information leading to better health outcomes. Knowledge does not ow smoothly to linguistically distant groups. Linguistically distant mothers also have a lower probability of knowing about the oral rehydration product (ORS) for treating children with diarrhoea.
Subjects: 
child mortality
ethnic inequality
ethnic/linguistic distance
ethno-linguistic diversity
health inequalities
JEL: 
I14
O10
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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