Financial development and mortality rates

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study uses a broad cross-section of countries to identify a link between financial market development and mortality rates. Our research is motivated by the idea that robust financial markets can facilitate innovation by efficiently channelling essential capital to the entities responsible for health-related advancements, resulting in improved overall health outcomes. Consistent with this conjecture, our findings reveal that countries with better-developed credit markets have markedly lower infant and maternal mortality rates. These results are robust to controls for time-series variation in mortality rates, country-specific determinants such as GDP per capita and other measures of wealth, and potential simultaneity bias.