The International Monetary Fund, Structural Adjustment, and Infant Mortality: A Cross-National Analysis of Sub-Saharan Africa

The authors conduct a cross-national analysis that tests the hypothesis that International Monetary Fund structural adjustment adversely affects health in Sub-Saharan Africa. In doing so, the authors use two-way fixed effects regression models for 30 nations from 1990 to 2005 to analyze infant mortality. The authors find substantial support for this line of reasoning. Specifically, the authors find that higher levels of International Monetary Fund structural adjustment correspond with higher levels of infant mortality within Sub-Saharan African nations. The results indicate that structural adjustment affects infant mortality indirectly via human immunodeficiency virus prevalence, access to an improved water and sanitation source, female educational attainment, debt service, foreign investment, international trade, and gross national product per capita. The authors conclude by discussing the findings, methodological implications, policy suggestions, and possible directions for future research.