Socio-Economic Determinants of Infant Mortality Rate in Turkey

Abstract

Turkey is one of the rare countries which have significantly reduced infant mortality in recent years while it still lacks behind when compared to some countries. Thus, in this study, it was aimed to determine the socio-economic causes of infant mortality in Turkey. In this context, the percentage of women with university degrees, the percentage of health expenditure in household expenditures, the GINI coefficient, the poverty rate, the fertility rate, and the urban population percentage were considered as independent variables that could possibly affect infant mortality. Data used in panel regression analyses covers the period of 2014-2018. In the results of the study, it was determined that education level had a statistically significant and negative effect, while the fertility rate had significant and positive effect (p <0.05) on infant mortality.