Demographic and socio-economic determinates of tempo effect of IMR in the ESCAP regions: policy-long view on regional balance

Mahsa Fattahi, Independent Researcher
Seyed Kabir Fattahi, Allameh Tabatabaee University

Infant mortality rate is one of the important criteria for evaluating health situation in any society.This paper aims to explore demographic and socio-economic determinates of tempo effect of Infant mortality Rates (IMR) in the ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) region between 1950-2005.The concept of tempo of IMR refers to change in the rate during a period of time.Data used in this analysis are mostly taken from the United Nations Population Division (2006), Human Development Report (HDR), annual report of the UNDP for 2006 and World Bank (2006).Our analysis on 45 Countries of ESCAP region reveals that tempo effect of IMR during 1950-2005 (Divided to four set time series) are different among male and female and gender gap is dwindle.Correlation between tempo effect of IMR with education,GDP, Life expectancy and Urbanization variables are negative and significant statistically.Yet, the future of IMR reduction will remain a challenging.