Why is Infant Mortality Higher in the U.S. Than in Europe?
▻http://www.nber.org/aginghealth/2015no1/w20525.html
There are numerous theories as to why the IMR is higher in the U.S. than in other countries. There may be reporting differences for infants born near the threshold of viability, with the U.S. more likely to count them as live births while other countries are more likely to count them as miscarriages or stillbirths. Babies in the U.S. also may have lower birth weight or a lower gestational age at birth, predisposing them to worse outcomes. Finally, U.S. babies may experience a higher neonatal mortality rate (deaths within the first month of life) or higher post-neonatal mortality rate (deaths in months one through twelve) than do babies of similar birth weight and gestational age in other countries.
To quantify the importance of these potential sources of the U.S. IMR disadvantage, the authors combine natality micro-data from the U.S. with similar data from Finland and Austria. These countries provide a useful comparison because Finland has one of the lowest IMRs in the world and Austria has an IMR similar to much of continental Europe.
