The Determinants of Infant Mortality in the Less Developed Countries: A Cross-National Test of Five Theories

The infant mortality rate varies widely across the less developed countries. Five macro-social change theories exist that can explain the variation of the infant mortality rate across the less developed countries: modernization theory, dependency/world-systems theory, gender stratification theory, economic disarticulation theory, and developmental state theory. Although research supports the claims of each theoretical narrative, no single study examines all five narratives simultaneously or is based on recent data. The purpose of the research reported here was to fill this gap in the literature by examining the simultaneous effects of industrialization, four alternative measures of economic dependence, female educational attainment, economic disarticulation, state strength, and a control variable, Sub-Saharan African status, on the infant mortality rate for 59 less developed countries in 1991. Results of eight tests of the five theoretical narratives indicate that industrialization, state strength, and three of the four measures of economic dependence have little net effect on infant mortality, whereas economic disarticulation, female education, debt dependence, and Sub-Saharan African status have the expected effects on infant mortality. Theoretical and policy implications of the results are briefly discussed.