Do Socio-Economic Factors Contribute to Maternal Mortality in sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from MDG Era and PMG Approach to Panel Data Analysis

Abstract

The objective of this study is to provide robust evidence on the contribution of socio-economic determinants to maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The paper covers the era of MDG (1990-2015) using panel data from selected 43 sub-Saharan Africa countries. The era was chosen to understand the interaction between the socioeconomic variables and MMR with the aim of providing a policy framework forSDG going forward. A model ofPooled Mean Group(PMG) was adopted in the analysis of data. For robustness, apanel cross-section dependence test was conducted for validity purpose. The PMG results showed strong evidence in support of the short and long-run elasticity impact of per capita health expenditure, female labour force participation rate, female employment and GDP per capita on maternal mortality in SSA. The study identified these socio-economic variables as key policy instruments in reducing maternal mortality in SSA. Also, the results have important policy implications both domestically for countries in SSA with a high rate of maternal deaths, and globally, if the SDG-5 of reducing maternal deaths by less than 70 per 100,000 live births before 2030 can be achieved.

Keywords

• maternal health
• maternal deaths
• panel unit root tests