Browsing by Author "Prado, Erika Gia"

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    The effect of provincial income class on the determinants of infant mortality in the Philippines
    (2008-04) Gonzales, Kimberely; Prado, Erika Gia
    Infant mortality is an urgent national concern for many developing countries. While a decline in aggregate Philippine infant mortality rates has been observed, the national average masks the fact that less developed provinces achieve relatively meager improvements in child mortality. In order to derive policy implications on how to best address the problem of health inequalities, separate regressions are run for three groups of provinces: first income class, second income class, and third and fourth income classes. The results reveal variations on the significance of child health determinants. In particular, public expenditures are significant explanatory variables in lower income provinces, but insignificant in richer provinces. This implies that the government must consider provincial income per capita in allocating its resources, allotting a bigger portion to less developed provinces. The Local Government Code of 1991, which states how government resources are allocated among local government units, was not intended to be progressive. Education and the number of public hospitals also show greater effects on infant mortality rates in lower economic sectors. Conversely, household expenditures on health and the number of private hospitals are found to be more significant in provinces with higher income.