Democracy, Dictatorship, and Infant Mortality Revisited

Issue Date July 2003
Volume 14
Issue 3
Page Numbers 90-103
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This article updates our earlier finding that democracies outperformed dictatorships in 1950-90 by achieving lower infant mortality rates at every level of development. Now we show that this holds even post-Cold War and after the latest wave of democratization. Using 1990-97 data, we again find that democracies outdo dictatorships, though the difference is somewhat smaller now. One key finding is relevant to policymakers: foreign direct investment and aid both significantly reduce IMRs in democracies, but not in dictatorships. Giving money to dictatorships, whether in the form of aid or investment, makes either no difference or even hurts children born there.

About the Authors

Patricio Navia

Patricio Navia is professor of liberal studies at New York University and professor of political science at Universidad Diego Portales in Chile.

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Thomas D. Zweifel

Thomas D. Zweifel is CEO of Swiss Consulting Group, Inc. He teaches at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, and is author of Democratic Deficit: Institutions and Regulation in the European Union, Switzerland, and the United States (2002) and Culture Clash: Managing the Global High-Performance Team (2003).

View all work by Thomas D. Zweifel

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