ABSTRACT. Due to some social, economic, and environmental factors, the under-5 mortality rates in low-income countries (LICs) are usually high. The primary purpose of this study is to determine the impact of health expenditures, electricity consumption, economic growth, renewable energy, urbanization, and fertility rates on the under-5 mortality rates in low-income countries. For the theoretical framework, the Grossman health production theory is conducted. Due to the existence of the cross-sectional dependency problem and the unit-roots problem, the static and dynamic models are employed to evaluate the long-run estimation findings. The static and dynamic models of the fixed effect, random effect, system generalized method of moments, and dynamic generalized method of moments illustrated that health expenditure, electricity, GDP, and urbanization significantly alleviated the infants’ mortality rates under-5 in the low-income countries, by contrast, renewable energy, and fertility rates contributed to the increase of the mortality rates under-5. The quantile regression evaluates the validity and robustness of the results. The robust outcomes narrated that health expenditure, electricity, GDP, and urbanization declined the mortality rates whenever the fertility rate increased the mortality rates. The research suggests important policy recommendations for low-income countries.
JEL codes: N3; N7; P25

Keywords: health expenditure; electricity; GDP; renewable energy; urbanization; fertility rate; mortality rate; low-income countries

How to cite: Nica, E., Puime-Guillén, F., Szydło, J., Sabie, O.-M., (Durkalic) Pantovic, D., and Samoilă, A. (2024). “Exploring the Drivers of Under-5 Mortality in Low-Income Countries: An Econometric Analysis of Health, Energy, and Urbanization Factors,” Economics, Management, and Financial Markets 19(3): 57–75. doi: 10.22381/emfm19320243.

Received 27 June 2024 • Received in revised form 24 September 2024
Accepted 26 September 2024 • Available online 30 September 2024