Gender patterns in Vietnam's child mortality

We analyze child mortality in Vietnam focusing on gender aspects. Contrary to several other countries in the region, mortality rates for boys are substantially larger than for girls. The mortality rate of boys appears to be more sensitive to parents' education levels than the mortality rate of girls. A high education level of the father is particularly protective for boys. The rural-urban mortality difference in the raw data, which is particularly large for boys, can be fully explained by differences in observable characteristics of urban and rural households.