School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019, USA.
Glob Health Action. 2011;4. doi: 10.3402/gha.v4i0.8423. Epub 2011 Dec 14.
Research on reproductive health in developing countries focuses mostly on the role of economic development on various components of reproductive health. Cross-sectional and empirical research studies in particular on the effects of non-economic factors such as reproductive rights remain few and far between.
This study investigates the influence of two components of an empowerment strategy, gender equality, and reproductive rights on women's reproductive health in developing countries. The empowerment strategy for improving reproductive health is theoretically situated on a number of background factors such as economic and social development.
Cross-national socioeconomic and demographic data from a number of international organizations on 142 developing countries are used to test a model of reproductive rights and reproductive health.
The findings suggest that both economic and democratic development have significant positive effects on levels of gender equality. The level of social development plays a prominent role in promoting reproductive rights. It is found that reproductive rights channel the influences of social structural factors and gender equality on reproductive health.
发展中国家的生殖健康研究主要集中在经济发展对生殖健康各个组成部分的影响上。特别是关于非经济因素（如生殖权利）影响的横断面和实证研究仍然很少。
本研究调查了增强权能战略的两个组成部分，即性别平等和生殖权利对发展中国家妇女生殖健康的影响。改善生殖健康的增强权能战略在理论上取决于经济和社会发展等一系列背景因素。
利用来自多个国际组织的 142 个发展中国家的跨国社会经济和人口数据，检验生殖权利和生殖健康模型。
研究结果表明，经济和民主发展对性别平等水平都有显著的积极影响。社会发展水平在促进生殖权利方面发挥着突出作用。研究还发现，生殖权利影响着社会结构因素和性别平等对生殖健康的影响。
