Chang, Chia-LinChen, Wen-ChenMcAleer, Michael2023-06-192023-06-192014-062341-2356https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/41592The authors wish to thank the Taiwan National Health Research Institutes for providing the data, and the National Science Council, Taiwan for financial support. The third author also wishes to acknowledge the Australian Research Council for financial support. **Corresponding author: changchialin@nchu.edu.tw Tel: +886 (04)22840350 ext 309; Fax: +886(04)22860255This paper examines the determinants of very low birth weight infant (or neonatal) mortality using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research database from 1997 to 2009. After infants are discharged from hospital, it is not possible to track their mortality, so the Cox proportional hazard model is used to analyze the very low birth weight infant mortality rate. In order to clarify treatment responsibility and to avoid selective referral effects, we use the number of infants treated in the preceding five years to observe the effect of a physician’s and hospital’s medical experience on the mortality rate of hospitalized minimal birth weight infants. The empirical results show that, given disease control variables, a higher infant weight, higher quality hospitals, increased hospital medical experience, and higher investment in pediatrics can reduce the mortality rate significantly. However, an increased physician’s medical experience does not seem to influence significantly the very low birth weight infant mortality rate.engAtribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 3.0 Españahttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/es/technical reporthttps://www.ucm.es/icaehttps://www.ucm.es/fundamentos-analisis-economico2/documentos-de-trabajo-del-icaeopen accessVery low birth weightNeonatal mortalityPhysician’s infant experienceHospital infant experienceStatistical analysisCox proportional hazard modelSelective referralTaiwan National Health Insurance Scheme.Econometría (Economía)5302 Econometría