The Cuban Revolution and Infant Mortality: A Synthetic Control Approach

29 Pages Posted: 14 Jul 2018 Last revised: 28 Oct 2018

See all articles by Jamie Bologna Pavlik

Jamie Bologna Pavlik

Texas Tech University - Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics

Vincent Geloso

George Mason University - Department of Economics

Date Written: October 26, 2018

Abstract

The Cuban government often vaunts its accomplishment of a low infant mortality rate post 1959. However, because many Latin American countries experienced similar decreases, and because Cuba has historically enjoyed lower infant mortality rates than the rest of the sub-continent, it is unclear that this effect is government-induced. We use the fact that Cuba underwent momentous and unique political change to consider the legacy of the Fidel Castro regime on infant mortality. We employ a synthetic control method to ascertain the reduction attributable to the regime. We find that in the first years of the regime, infant mortality increased relative to the counterfactual but that---after the introduction of Soviet foreign aid---infant mortality partially reverted to trend. To measure the effects of the subsidies, we run a second synthetic control when the collapse of the Soviet Union ended the subsidies. This second synthetic control allows us to assert that the subsidies played no important role.

Keywords: Infant Mortality, Cuba, Castro Regime, Health Economics

JEL Classification: H51, I10, I18, N36

Suggested Citation

Bologna Pavlik, Jamie and Geloso, Vincent, The Cuban Revolution and Infant Mortality: A Synthetic Control Approach (October 26, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3201194 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3201194

Jamie Bologna Pavlik

Texas Tech University - Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics ( email )

Suite 167, 2625 Memorial Circle
TTU Administration
Lubbock, TX 79409
United States

Vincent Geloso (Contact Author)

George Mason University - Department of Economics ( email )

4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
United States

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