Theoretical perspectives for explaining infant mortality in the third world

The authors analyze differentials in infant mortality rates in developing countries and attempt to go beyond the usual economic interpretations of these differences and identify some of the relevant social and political factors affecting infant mortality. In particular, they apply "a 'political economy of health' perspective to infant mortality and seek to account for discrepancies between economic progress and progress against infant mortality. [The paper] traces out a four-fold comparison--between countries with high/low economic development and countries with high/low infant mortality--for testing hypotheses in the political economy of health."