Exploring unobserved heterogeneity in perinatal and neonatal mortality risks: The case of an Italian sharecropping community, 1900–39. (2nd January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Scalone, Francesco; Agati, Patrizia; Angeli, Aurora; Donno, Annalisa
• Is Part Of: Population studies. Volume 71:Number 1(2017)
• Page Start: 23
• Page End: 41
• Publication Date: 2017-01-02
• Subjects: historical demography -- perinatal and neonatal mortality -- unobserved heterogeneity -- median odds ratio -- intra-class correlation coefficient -- sharecropping contracts; Demography -- Periodicals; Population -- Periodicals; 304.605
• DOI: 10.1080/00324728.2016.1254812
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0032-4728

Abstract

Abstract : Previous researchers have found that traditional determinants explain only a limited part of the variation in perinatal and infant mortality at the family level. In the study reported in this paper, we explored the factors that make the perinatal/neonatal death risk more heterogeneous across families. We estimated logistic regressions with cluster random effects at the maternal level, using data from the Italian village of Granarolo from 1900 to 1939. We estimated the effects of selected predictors on perinatal/neonatal mortality and unexplained inter-family variation. We found that non-rural skilled and lower-skilled workers experienced higher perinatal and neonatal mortality risks. Unexplained heterogeneity at the maternal level was lower for women living in sharecropper families than for those in landless labourer and non-rural worker families. Unexplained perinatal and neonatal mortality components were also due to socio-economic differences and were not necessarily related only to maternal biological features or shared genetic frailty.