An Extended Model of the Determinants of Child Survival in Pakistan
Research paper 29
Shafqat Shehzad
The critics of Mosely and Chen framework (1984) for “proximate determinants” of child survival argue that besides socio-demographic factors, other factors such as economic and physiological are important for child survival. An earlier study by Naushin and Kiani (1994), estimated only socio-demographic factors as important determinants of child survival in Pakistan. This study incorporates the critique of Mosely and Chen framework and extends the model for child survival probability in Pakistan. The study discovers that simple application of Mosely and Chen model may undermine the crucial effects of other important factors. The study estimates these effects, and finds out that household income, child’s age, premature births, and average number of births turn out to be significant predictors of child survival in Pakistan. They were not estimated in the earlier work.