Towards Sustainable Infant Survival: Integrating Economic Growth, Energy Access, and Environmental Drivers in Asia

ABSTRACT Infant mortality remains unevenly distributed across Asia despite sustained economic growth and significant structural transformation, raising critical concerns for sustainable development. This study examines the multidimensional determinants of infant mortality across 36 Asian countries, grouped into Central, East, South, Southeast, and Western Asia. Adopting a sustainable development perspective, the analysis integrates economic capacity, environmental conditions, energy access, and social investment to assess their region‐specific associations with infant survival. The empirical analysis employs feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) as the primary estimation method to address heteroskedasticity and cross‐sectional dependence in multi‐country panel data. The robustness of the findings is assessed using Prais–Winsten regression, panel‐corrected standard errors (PCSE), Driscoll–Kraay standard errors, and the Fama–MacBeth two‐step regression procedure. The results reveal substantial regional heterogeneity in the drivers of infant mortality. Economic growth is consistently associated with lower infant mortality rates, although its impact weakens at higher income levels, indicating diminishing marginal health benefits of development. Environmental effects are mixed: in several developing subregions, carbon dioxide emissions are negatively associated with infant mortality, suggesting that industrialization‐related improvements in infrastructure and healthcare access may partially offset environmental health risks. Energy access exhibits pronounced asymmetries, with expanded access to clean cooking fuels and electricity reducing infant mortality in some regions while increasing it in others, reflecting disparities in reliability, affordability, and equitable distribution. Among social factors, public health expenditure shows a strong and consistent association with improved infant survival, whereas education spending displays weaker and more gradual effects. These findings inform integrated sustainable development strategies regionally.