WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF THE DECLINE IN MATERNAL MORTALITY IN INDIA? EVIDENCE FROM TIME SERIES AND CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYSES

Studies on the causes of maternal mortality in India have focused on institutional deliveries, and the association of socioeconomic and demographic factors with the decline in maternal mortality has not been sufficiently investigated. By using both time series and cross-sectional data, this paper examines the factors associated with the decline in maternal mortality in India. Relative effects estimated by OLS regression analysis reveal that per capita state net domestic product (1.49611, p<0.05), poverty ratio (0.02426, p<0.05), female literacy rate (0.05905, p<0.10), infant mortality rate and total fertility rate (0.11755, p<0.05) are statistically significantly associated with the decline in the maternal mortality ratio in India. The Barro regression estimate reveals that improvements in economic and demographic conditions such as growth in state income (β=0.35020, p<0.05) and reduction in poverty (β=0.01867, p<0.01) and fertility (β=0.02598, p<0.05) have a greater association with the decline in the maternal mortality ratio in India than institutional deliveries (β=0.00305).