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Examining the Causal Effect of Social Development on Maternal Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa Using Partial Least Squares (PLS) Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)

Received: 4 August 2022    Accepted: 9 September 2022    Published: 26 July 2023
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Abstract

The threat of a woman in a low-income economy dying due to pregnancy and childbirth-related complications during her lifetime is about 120 times higher than for a woman living in a high-income economy. Social factors are seen as important factors contributing to maternal mortality and the conceptual framework developed for the reduction of maternal mortality has found the need to include social factors in intervention for maternal mortality reduction. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of social development on maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa by applying Sen’s development theory and the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) technique. The result of the empirical analysis shows that social development has both direct and indirect effects on maternal mortality. The direct effect is greater than the indirect effect. The direct effect is the effect of social development on reproductive capability, and the indirect effect is the effect of social development on maternal mortality through reproductive capability and freedom. The result also reveals a direct and positive effect of economic and political development on social development. Social development has the greatest effect on maternal mortality, compared to all the other effects in the model. The result of the PLS-SEM analysis and the final model supports all the hypotheses for the study.

Published in Pure and Applied Mathematics Journal (Volume 12, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.pamj.20231202.11
Page(s) 23-33
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Maternal Mortality, PLS-SEM, Sen’s Theory, Sub-Saharan Africa, Social Development

References
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    Frank Okwan, Peter Kovacs. (2023). Examining the Causal Effect of Social Development on Maternal Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa Using Partial Least Squares (PLS) Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Pure and Applied Mathematics Journal, 12(2), 23-33. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pamj.20231202.11

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    Frank Okwan; Peter Kovacs. Examining the Causal Effect of Social Development on Maternal Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa Using Partial Least Squares (PLS) Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Pure Appl. Math. J. 2023, 12(2), 23-33. doi: 10.11648/j.pamj.20231202.11

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    AMA Style

    Frank Okwan, Peter Kovacs. Examining the Causal Effect of Social Development on Maternal Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa Using Partial Least Squares (PLS) Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Pure Appl Math J. 2023;12(2):23-33. doi: 10.11648/j.pamj.20231202.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.pamj.20231202.11,
      author = {Frank Okwan and Peter Kovacs},
      title = {Examining the Causal Effect of Social Development on Maternal Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa Using Partial Least Squares (PLS) Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)},
      journal = {Pure and Applied Mathematics Journal},
      volume = {12},
      number = {2},
      pages = {23-33},
      doi = {10.11648/j.pamj.20231202.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pamj.20231202.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pamj.20231202.11},
      abstract = {The threat of a woman in a low-income economy dying due to pregnancy and childbirth-related complications during her lifetime is about 120 times higher than for a woman living in a high-income economy. Social factors are seen as important factors contributing to maternal mortality and the conceptual framework developed for the reduction of maternal mortality has found the need to include social factors in intervention for maternal mortality reduction. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of social development on maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa by applying Sen’s development theory and the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) technique. The result of the empirical analysis shows that social development has both direct and indirect effects on maternal mortality. The direct effect is greater than the indirect effect. The direct effect is the effect of social development on reproductive capability, and the indirect effect is the effect of social development on maternal mortality through reproductive capability and freedom. The result also reveals a direct and positive effect of economic and political development on social development. Social development has the greatest effect on maternal mortality, compared to all the other effects in the model. The result of the PLS-SEM analysis and the final model supports all the hypotheses for the study.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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    AU  - Frank Okwan
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    AB  - The threat of a woman in a low-income economy dying due to pregnancy and childbirth-related complications during her lifetime is about 120 times higher than for a woman living in a high-income economy. Social factors are seen as important factors contributing to maternal mortality and the conceptual framework developed for the reduction of maternal mortality has found the need to include social factors in intervention for maternal mortality reduction. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of social development on maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa by applying Sen’s development theory and the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) technique. The result of the empirical analysis shows that social development has both direct and indirect effects on maternal mortality. The direct effect is greater than the indirect effect. The direct effect is the effect of social development on reproductive capability, and the indirect effect is the effect of social development on maternal mortality through reproductive capability and freedom. The result also reveals a direct and positive effect of economic and political development on social development. Social development has the greatest effect on maternal mortality, compared to all the other effects in the model. The result of the PLS-SEM analysis and the final model supports all the hypotheses for the study.
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Author Information
  • Department of Statistics and Demography, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary

  • Department of Statistics and Demography, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary

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