On Standard of Living and Infant Survival in Some East African Countries

Abstract

To summarize the extent of infant survival in a country, three indices have been defined. The first one is the complement to 1000 of the infant mortality rate (expressed in per thousand births). The second one takes into account the inequality in infant survival rates between population subgroups. The third indicator adjusts the average infant survival rate by giving more weight to a population subgroup with a lower socio-economic status. The computation of the last two indicators requires the use of an inequality index and a concentration ratio.We used two measures of inequality, the Gini index and the Bonferroni index, as well as two concentration ratios, derived from the Gini index and related to the Bonferroni index. A short empirical illustration, based on seven East African countries, confirms the usefulness of the approach presented in this paper.