Real consumer food prices and child mortality: Evidence from low‐ and middle‐income countries

Abstract

This paper estimates the effect of short‐term changes in real consumer food prices on short‐term fluctuations in neonatal, infant, and child mortality rates using a panel dataset covering 59 low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) for the period 2000–2015. Quarterly mortality rates were constructed from over 145 rounds of the standard Demographic and Health Surveys allowing to identify short‐term (<1 year) effects of food price shocks. The results indicate that rising real food prices had a large and significant effect on neonatal, infant, and child mortalities, regardless of the type of country‐specific time trends chosen.