Brief Report: Invisible at Birth: State Administrative Capacity, Subnational Development Inequality, and Civil Registration Completeness — Cross-National Evidence from 165 Countries

<title>Abstract</title> <p>This Brief Report examines whether state administrative capacity and within-country development inequality predict birth registration completeness across a cross-national sample of 165 countries. We conducted a cross-sectional observational study merging three publicly available datasets: the UNICEF Birth Registration Database (May 2025), the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI; 1996–2024), and the Global Data Lab Subnational Human Development Index Database (GDL; 2023). A composite governance quality index was constructed from six WGI dimensions by normalising and averaging underlying source scores across 35 data providers. We estimated ordinary least squares regression models with logit-transformed birth registration rates as the outcome across four progressively controlled specifications with region fixed effects. Governance quality was positively correlated with registration (r = .47, p &lt; .001) and significantly predicted registration after income and region adjustment (β = 0.42, SE = 0.17, p = .013; R² = .740). Control of corruption was the most significant WGI subcomponent (β = 0.42, SE = 0.20, p = .038). Subnational HDI inequality was negatively correlated with registration (r = − .62, p &lt; .001). These findings suggest civil registration completeness is partly a governance outcome and that anti-corruption interventions within civil registration systems represent a specific, actionable reform entry point.</p>