abstract: 'Although there has been substantial debate and research concerning the

  economic impact of neo-liberal practices, there is a paucity of research

  about the potential relation between neo-liberal economic practices and

  population health. We assessed the extent to which neo-liberal policies

  and practices are associated with population health at the national

  level. We collected data on 119 countries between 1980 and 2004. We

  measured neo-liberalism using the Fraser Institute''s Economic Freedom of

  the World (EFW) Index, which gives an overall score as well as a score

  for each of five different aspects of neo-liberal economic practices:

  (1) size of government, (2) legal structure and security of property

  rights, (3) access to sound money, (4) freedom to exchange with

  foreigners and (5) regulation of credit, labor and business. Our measure

  of population health was under-five mortality. We controlled for

  potential mediators (income distribution, social capital and openness of

  political institutions) and confounders (female literacy, total

  population, rural population, fertility, gross domestic product per

  capita and time period). In longitudinal multivariable analyses, we

  found that the EFW index did not have an effect on child mortality but

  that two of its components: improved security of property rights and

  access to sound money were associated with lower under-five mortality (p

  = 0.017 and p = 0.024, respectively). When stratifying the countries by

  level of income, less regulation of credit, labor and business was

  associated with lower under-five mortality in high-income countries (p =

  0.001). None of the EFW components were significantly associated with

  under-five mortality in low-income countries. This analysis suggests

  that the concept of `neo-liberalism'' is not a monolithic entity in its

  relation to health and that some `neo-liberal'' policies are consistent

  with improved population health. Further work is needed to corroborate

  or refute these findings.'
affiliation: 'Galea, S (Corresponding Author), Univ Michigan, Ctr Global Hlth, 109
  Observ St,Room 3663, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA.

  Galea, Sandro, Univ Michigan, Ctr Global Hlth, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA.

  Tracy, Melissa; Harper, Christine, Univ Michigan, Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Epidemiol,
  Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA.'
author: Tracy, Melissa and Kruk, Margaret E. and Harper, Christine and Galea, Sandro
author-email: sgalea@umich.edu
author_list:
- family: Tracy
  given: Melissa
- family: Kruk
  given: Margaret E.
- family: Harper
  given: Christine
- family: Galea
  given: Sandro
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1017/S1744133109990181
files: []
issn: 1744-1331
journal: HEALTH ECONOMICS POLICY AND LAW
keywords-plus: 'WELFARE-STATE INSTITUTIONS; LESS-DEVELOPED-COUNTRIES; INFANT-MORTALITY

  RATES; INCOME INEQUALITY; CHILD-MORTALITY; SOCIAL COHESION; LIFE

  EXPECTANCY; DETERMINANTS; POLICIES; NEOLIBERALISM'
language: English
month: APR
number: '2'
number-of-cited-references: '85'
orcid-numbers: 'Kruk, Margaret E/0000-0002-9549-8432

  Galea, Sandro/0000-0002-7534-0945'
pages: 171-199
papis_id: 64a30c1d22c94ef4c926c4b452f48bf0
ref: Tracy2010neoliberaleconomic
researcherid-numbers: 'Galea, Sandro/GLR-6066-2022

  Kruk, Margaret E/E-3058-2010

  '
times-cited: '3'
title: 'Neo-liberal economic practices and population health: a cross-national analysis,
  1980-2004'
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000293187200003
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '21'
volume: '5'
web-of-science-categories: Health Policy \& Services
year: '2010'