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Title: The Difference a Place Makes: Contextual Effect of Education on Child Mortality. Evidence from Colombia in the second half of 20th century

Citation Type: Conference Paper

Publication Year: 2013

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Abstract: The paper studies whether and how the variation in child mortality relates to place in Colombia.Using census data samples of 578.404 Colombian women born between 1939 and 1985, we present evidence ofthe large geographical variation in child mortality between municipalities in a multilevel framework.Municipalities at the border and close to the coast rank among the unhealthiest by comparison to the mainpopulation clusters up in the mountains. We confirm the independent association between community educationand child mortality, controlling for individual and family education. Furthermore, we confirm the strong andenduring individual level relationship between maternal education and child mortality over time, and the lessstrong, but independent, effect of fathers education in child mortality: the gender gap reversal in education.However, among the women, the relative difference in child mortality is persistent over time despite theadvances of the last decades. In short, the individual risk factors are more important than the context, and thequestion ahead is which specific contextual factors improve the well-being of the least advantaged members ofthe community.

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Authors: Palacio, Andrs

Conference Name: Department of Economic History and Centre for Economic Demography at Lund University

Publisher Location: University Externado de Colombia, Bogot DC

Data Collections: IPUMS International

Topics: Education, Family and Marriage, Gender

Countries: Colombia