Smith-Greenway “Polygynous Contexts, Family Structure, and Infant Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa”. Really interesting analysis on whether infant mortality is associated with polygyny, and the mechanisms of the association. While they found support for different models/mechanisms, one of the main conclusions is that infants in polygynous households have a higher hazard/risk of death compared to infants in monogamous households, and that this risk is especially high in regions where polygyny is prevalent. However, in one of the models, controlling for living in rural areas and infrastructure reduced the association substantially, and made the association no longer significant. The analysis seems really well thought, and I’d love to see it extended in a few ways, like including indicators/predictors based on availability of antenatal care (ANC), timing of first ANC visit, skilled birth attendance, fees for antenatal and maternity care, and a few other measures that are associated with maternal and neonatal outcomes. It would also be interesting to see what proportions of infant deaths are in the intrapartum, neonatal, or later periods in the first year of life. The paper mentions that lower utilization of healthcare among polygynous women may be a mechanism, which implies a behavioral aspect (demand for services) rather than access (supply-side), but we know that rural areas with poorer infrastructure also often suffer from lower assess to essential services.