This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Abouharb, M. R. Articles by Kimball, A. L. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

A New Dataset on Infant Mortality Rates, 1816—2002

Department of Political Science, Louisiana State University, roda{at}lsu.edu

Anessa L. Kimball

Department of Political Science, Université Laval, anessa.kimball{at}pol.ulaval.ca

Systematic data on annual infant mortality rates are of use to a variety of social science research programs in demography, economics, sociology, and political science. Infant mortality rates may be used both as a proxy measure for economic development, in lieu of energy consumption or GDP-per-capita measures, and as an indicator of the extent to which governments provide for the economic and social welfare of their citizens. Until recently, data were available for only a limited number of countries based on regional or country-level studies and time periods for years after 1950. Here, the authors introduce a new dataset reporting annual infant mortality rates for all states in the world, based on the Correlates of War state system list, between 1816 and 2002. They discuss past research programs using infant mortality rates in conflict studies and describe the dataset by exploring its geographic and temporal coverage. Next, they explain some of the limitations of the dataset as well as issues associated with the data themselves. Finally, they suggest some research areas that might benefit from the use of this dataset. This new dataset is the most comprehensive source on infant mortality rates currently available to social science researchers.

References

• Bagenholm, Gunnel C. & Abdullah A. Nasher, 1989. `Mortality Among Children in Rural Areas of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen', Annals of Tropical Paediatrics 9 (June): 75—81.
• Bennett, D. Scott & Allan Stam, 2000. `EUGene: A Conceptual Manual', International Interactions 26(2): 179—204.[CrossRef][Web of Science]
• Bremer, Stuart A., 1992. `Dangerous Dyads: Conditions Affecting the Likelihood of Interstate War, 1816—1965', Journal of Conflict Resolution 36(2): 309—341.[Abstract]
• Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce; Alastair Smith, Randolph M. Siverson & James D. Morrow, 2003. The Logic of Political Survival. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Buhaug, Halvard, 2005. `Dangerous Dyads Revisited: Democracies May Not Be That Peaceful After All', Conflict Management and Peace Science 22(2): 1—17.[Free Full Text]
• Collier, Paul & Anke Hoeffler, 2004. `Greed and Grievance in Civil War', Oxford Economic Papers—New Series 56(4): 563—595.
• Davies, John L. & Ted Robert Gurr, 1998. `Preventive Measures: An Overview', in John L. Davies & Ted Robert Gurr, eds, Preventive Measures: Building Risk Assessment and Crisis Early Warning Systems. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield (1—14).
• Esty, Daniel C.; Jack A. Goldstone, Ted Robert Gurr, Barbara Harff, Marc Levy, Geoffrey D. Dabelko, Pamela T. Surko & Alan N. Unger, 1998. State Failure Task Force Report: Phase II Findings. MacLean, VA: Science Applications International.
• Esty, Daniel C.; Jack A. Goldstone, Ted Robert Gurr, Barbara Harff, Marc Levy, Geoffrey D. Dabelko, Pamela T. Surko & Alan N. Unger, 1999. `State Failure Task Force Report: Phase II Findings', Environmental Change & Security Project Report 5: 49—72 (http://www.wilsoncenter.org/events/docs/Phase2.pdf ).
• Gelbrand, Hellen; Jerker Liljestrand, Leda Nemer, M. Shafiqul Islam, Jelka Zupan & Prabhat Jha, 2002. `The Evidence Base for Interventions To Reduce Maternal and Neonatal Mortality in Low and Middle-Income Countries', Commission on Macroeconomic and Health. WG5 Paper No. 5 (http://www.cmhealth.org/docs/wg5_paper5.pdf).
• Gleditsch, Kristian S., 2002. `Expanded Trade and GDP Data', Journal of Conflict Resolution 46(5): 712—724.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Gleditsch, Kristian S. & Michael D. Ward, 1999. `Interstate System Membership: A Revised List of Independent States Since 1816', International Interactions 25(4): 393—413.[CrossRef][Web of Science]
• Goldstone, Jack A., 2002. `Population and Security: How Demographic Change Can Lead to Violent Conflict', Journal of International Affairs 56(1): 3—21.
• Harff, Barbara & Ted Gurr, 2004. Ethnic Conflict in World Politics. Boulder, CO: Westview.
• Hegre, Håvard, 2000. `Development and the Liberal Peace: What Does It Take To Be a Trading State?', Journal of Peace Research 37(1): 5—30.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Hegre, Håvard; Tanja Ellingsen, Scott Gates & Nils Petter Gleditsch, 2001. `Toward a Democratic Civil Peace? Democracy, Political Change, and Civil War, 1816—1992', American Political Science Review 95(1): 33—48.[Web of Science]
• Henderson, Conway, 1993. `Population Pressures and Political Repression', Social Science Quarterly 74(2): 322—333.[Web of Science]
• Hicks, Norman & Paul Streeten, 1979. `Indicators of Development — Search for a Basic Needs Yardstick', World Development 7(6): 567—580.[CrossRef][Web of Science]
• Homer-Dixon, Thomas, 1991. `On the Threshold: Environmental Changes as Causes of Acute Conflict', International Security 16(2): 76—116.[CrossRef][Web of Science]
• Kerlinger, Fred N. & Howard B. Lee, 2000. Foundations of Behavioral Research, 4th edn. New York: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
• King, Gary; Robert O. Keohane& Sidney Verba, 1994. Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
• Mason, T. David, 2004. Caught in the Crossfire: Revolutions, Repression, and the Rational Peasant. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
• Maoz, Zeev & Bruce Russett, 1993. `Normative and Structural Causes of Democratic Peace, 1946—1986', American Political Science Review 87(3): 624—638.[CrossRef][Web of Science]
• Mesquida, Christian G. & Neil I. Weiner, 1999. `Male Age Composition and the Severity of Conflicts', Politics & the Life Sciences 18(2): 181—189.
• Moller, Herbert, 1968. `Youth as a Force in the Modern World', Comparative Studies in Society & History 10(3): 237—260.
• Pampel Jr., Fred C. & Vijayan K. Pillai, 1986. `Patterns and Determinants of Infant Mortality in Developed Nations, 1950—1975', Demography 23(4): 525—542.[Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Poe, Steven C.; C. Neal Tate & Linda Keith, 1999. `Repression of the Human Right to Physical Integrity Revisited: A Global Cross-National Study Covering the Years 1976—1993', International Studies Quarterly 43(2): 291—313.[CrossRef][Web of Science]
• Przeworski, Adam; Michael E. Alvarez, Jose A. Cheibub& Fernando Limongi, 2000. Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-Being in the World, 1950—1990. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Riphenburg, Claudia, 1997. `Women's Status and Cultural Expression: Changing Gender Relations and Structural Adjustment in Zimbabwe', Africa Today 44(1): 33—49.[Web of Science]
• Sen, Amartya, 1999. Development as Freedom. New York: Anchor.
• Singer, J. David & Melvin Small, 1972. The Wages of War, 1816—1965: A Statistical Handbook. New York: Wiley.
• Small, Melvin & J. David Singer, 1982. Resort to Arms: International and Civil Wars, 1816—1980. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
• Urdal, Henrik, 2005. `People vs. Malthus: Population Pressure, Environmental Degradation and Armed Conflict Revisited', Journal of Peace Research 42(4): 417—434.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Van der Berg, Servaas, 1998. `Consolidating South African Democracy: The Political Arithmetic of Budgetary Redistribution', African Affairs 97(387): 215—264.
• Willie, Charles V., 1959. `A Research Note on the Changing Association Between Infant Mortality and Socio-Economic Status', Social Forces 37(3): 221—227.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Zweifel, Thomas D. & Patricio Navia, 2000. `Democracy, Dictatorship, and Infant Mortality', Journal of Democracy 11(2): 99—114.[Web of Science]

Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 44, No. 6, 743-754 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0022343307082071


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Abouharb, M. R. Articles by Kimball, A. L. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?