PRIOR AND PROXIMATE CAUSES OF INFANT SURVIVAL IN GHANA, WITH SPECIAL ATTENTION TO POLYGYNY

This study examines the role of marriage form in infant mortality and tests the relative effects and mechanisms through which polygyny affec ts infant survival. A sample of infants born in the 5 years preceding the 1988 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey was used. A causal model was constructed and polygyny was found to be an important mediating fa ctor in understanding infant survival. The findings highlight the rele vance of family structure (polygyny) as an intervening factor, but als o reveal the complex role of ethnicity, dietary supplement and birth i nterval in accounting for infant survival.