Excess Male Infant Mortality: The Gene-Institution Interactions
研究政治制度质量改善如何影响男性婴儿的生存劣势，利用双胞胎数据和非洲制度发展的自然实验，发现制度改善能抑制基因表达并减少产前环境对男性婴儿超额死亡率的影响。
Excess male mortality at early ages is an important source of child inequality in most societies. We examine how improvement in the quality of political institutions affects the male survival disadvantage. Using data on twins in combination with a natural experiment on the development of African institutions, we quantify the distinct effects of biology and preconception environment on the infant mortality sex gap and find that these effects are important only in poor institutions. The analysis implies that improved institutions constrain genetic expression and mitigate preconception influences on excess male infant mortality, which is an optimistic finding with pragmatic implications.