Exploring the Racial Gap in Infant Mortality Rates, 1920-1970
Working Paper No. 02-W01
William J. Collins and Melissa A. Thomasson
ABSTRACT [article]
This paper examines the racial gap in infant mortality rates from 1920 to 1970. Using state-level panel data with information on income, urbanization, women's education, and physicians per capita, we can account for a large portion of the racial gap in infant mortality rates between 1920 and 1945, but a smaller portion thereafter. We then re-examine the post-war period in light of trends in birth weight, maternal characteristics, smoking, air pollution, breast-feeding, insurance, and hospital births.
Keywords and Phrases: Infant mortality, health, race
JEL Classification Number: I12, J15, N32