Saving Lives through Technology : Mobile Phones and Infant Mortality

Saving Lives through Technology : Mobile Phones and Infant Mortality

Digital technologies can expand access to health services to underserved populations. This paper leverages mobile network expansion and survey data spanning two decades to study the impact of access to mobile phones on infant mortality in Africa. U...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mensah, Justice Tei, Tafere, Kibrom, Abay, Kibrom A.
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2022
Subjects:
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY ACCESS
MOBILE NETWORK EXPANSION
HEALTH ACCESS
INFANT MORTALITY REDUCTION
INFANT MORTALITY DATA
ACCESS TO MEDICINE
HEALTH INTERVENTION
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/394931647888314925/Saving-Lives-through-Technology-Mobile-Phones-and-Infant-Mortality
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37200
id okr-10986-37200
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-372002022-03-24T05:10:49Z Saving Lives through Technology : Mobile Phones and Infant Mortality Mensah, Justice Tei Tafere, Kibrom Abay, Kibrom A. DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY ACCESS MOBILE NETWORK EXPANSION HEALTH ACCESS INFANT MORTALITY REDUCTION INFANT MORTALITY DATA ACCESS TO MEDICINE HEALTH INTERVENTION Digital technologies can expand access to health services to underserved populations. This paper leverages mobile network expansion and survey data spanning two decades to study the impact of access to mobile phones on infant mortality in Africa. Using plausibly exogenous variations in lightning intensity and (sub)regional convergence in mobile penetration as instrumental variables for mobile network expansion, the analysis finds that mobile phones significantly reduce infant mortality. A 10 percentage point increase in mobile coverage is associated with a 0.45 percentage point reduction in infant mortality. Improvements in health knowledge and behavior and health care utilization appear to be plausible channels. 2022-03-23T18:04:56Z 2022-03-23T18:04:56Z 2022-03 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/394931647888314925/Saving-Lives-through-Technology-Mobile-Phones-and-Infant-Mortality http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37200 English Policy Research Working Paper;9978 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Policy Research Working Paper Africa Africa
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY ACCESS
MOBILE NETWORK EXPANSION
HEALTH ACCESS
INFANT MORTALITY REDUCTION
INFANT MORTALITY DATA
ACCESS TO MEDICINE
HEALTH INTERVENTION
spellingShingle DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY ACCESS
MOBILE NETWORK EXPANSION
HEALTH ACCESS
INFANT MORTALITY REDUCTION
INFANT MORTALITY DATA
ACCESS TO MEDICINE
HEALTH INTERVENTION
Mensah, Justice Tei
Tafere, Kibrom
Abay, Kibrom A.
Saving Lives through Technology : Mobile Phones and Infant Mortality
geographic_facet Africa
Africa
relation Policy Research Working Paper;9978
description Digital technologies can expand access to health services to underserved populations. This paper leverages mobile network expansion and survey data spanning two decades to study the impact of access to mobile phones on infant mortality in Africa. Using plausibly exogenous variations in lightning intensity and (sub)regional convergence in mobile penetration as instrumental variables for mobile network expansion, the analysis finds that mobile phones significantly reduce infant mortality. A 10 percentage point increase in mobile coverage is associated with a 0.45 percentage point reduction in infant mortality. Improvements in health knowledge and behavior and health care utilization appear to be plausible channels.
format Working Paper
author Mensah, Justice Tei
Tafere, Kibrom
Abay, Kibrom A.
author_facet Mensah, Justice Tei
Tafere, Kibrom
Abay, Kibrom A.
author_sort Mensah, Justice Tei
title Saving Lives through Technology : Mobile Phones and Infant Mortality
title_short Saving Lives through Technology : Mobile Phones and Infant Mortality
title_full Saving Lives through Technology : Mobile Phones and Infant Mortality
title_fullStr Saving Lives through Technology : Mobile Phones and Infant Mortality
title_full_unstemmed Saving Lives through Technology : Mobile Phones and Infant Mortality
title_sort saving lives through technology : mobile phones and infant mortality
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2022
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/394931647888314925/Saving-Lives-through-Technology-Mobile-Phones-and-Infant-Mortality
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37200
_version_ 1764486710125658112

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