[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jodepp/v5y2020i1p54-73.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Infant Mortality in Low- and Middle-income Countries: Does Government Health Spending Matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Micheal Kofi Boachie
  • Tatjana Põlajeva
  • Albert Opoku Frimpong
Abstract
The issue of whether government health spending improves health outcomes has been a matter of contention over the years. There have been calls for governments to reduce their financing role in the health sector since such funding do not produce better health. This article examines the effect of public (i.e., government) health expenditure on infant mortality, a proxy of health outcomes, in low- and middle-income countries. We use data from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators database and employ fixed effects estimation technique, with three-stage least squares as a robustness check. The data cover the period 1995–2014. We find that public health expenditure improves health outcomes significantly, as it reduces infant mortality. The results further show that rising income and access to safe water are some of the reasons for improved health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. Based on these results and the expected redistributive impact of government spending, governments in low- and middle-income countries may consider increasing health spending for better healthcare systems and improved health.

Suggested Citation

  • Micheal Kofi Boachie & Tatjana Põlajeva & Albert Opoku Frimpong, 2020. "Infant Mortality in Low- and Middle-income Countries: Does Government Health Spending Matter?," Journal of Development Policy and Practice, , vol. 5(1), pages 54-73, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jodepp:v:5:y:2020:i:1:p:54-73
    DOI: 10.1177/2455133320909916
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2455133320909916
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2455133320909916?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jacob Novignon & Solomon Olakojo & Justice Nonvignon, 2012. "The effects of public and private health care expenditure on health status in sub-Saharan Africa: new evidence from panel data analysis," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. John Anyanwu & Andrew E. O. Erhijakpor, 2009. "Health Expenditures and Health Outcomes in Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 21(2), pages 400-433.
    3. Micheal Kofi Boachie & K. Ramu, 2018. "Distribution of the benefits from public health expenditures in Ghana," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 415-430, January.
    4. Grossman, Michael, 1972. "On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(2), pages 223-255, March-Apr.
    5. Pierre‐Yves Crémieux & Pierre Ouellette & Caroline Pilon, 1999. "Health care spending as determinants of health outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 8(7), pages 627-639, November.
    6. Yongjian Xu & Jie Ma & Na Wu & Xiaojing Fan & Tao Zhang & Zhongliang Zhou & Jianmin Gao & Jianping Ren & Gang Chen, 2018. "Catastrophic health expenditure in households with chronic disease patients: A pre-post comparison of the New Health Care Reform in Shaanxi Province, China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-13, March.
    7. Mark Berger & Jodi Messer, 2002. "Public financing of health expenditures, insurance, and health outcomes," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(17), pages 2105-2113.
    8. Gallet, Craig A. & Doucouliagos, Hristos, 2017. "The impact of healthcare spending on health outcomes: A meta-regression analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 9-17.
    9. Micheal Kofi Boachie & K. Ramu & Tatjana Põlajeva, 2018. "Public Health Expenditures and Health Outcomes: New Evidence from Ghana," Economies, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-25, October.
    10. Farasat A. S. Bokhari & Yunwei Gai & Pablo Gottret, 2007. "Government health expenditures and health outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 257-273, March.
    11. Rajkumar, Andrew Sunil & Swaroop, Vinaya, 2008. "Public spending and outcomes: Does governance matter?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 96-111, April.
    12. Bloom, David E. & Canning, David & Sevilla, Jaypee, 2004. "The Effect of Health on Economic Growth: A Production Function Approach," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 1-13, January.
    13. World Bank, 2016. "World Development Indicators 2016," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 23969.
    14. Lucia Hanmer & Robert Lensink & Howard White, 2003. "Infant and child mortality in developing countries: Analysing the data for Robust determinants," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 101-118.
    15. Sudhir Anand & Martin Ravallion, 1993. "Human Development in Poor Countries: On the Role of Private Incomes and Public Services," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 133-150, Winter.
    16. Musgrove, Philip, 1999. "Public spending on health care: how are different criteria related?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 207-223, May.
    17. David Cutler & Grant Miller, 2005. "The role of public health improvements in health advances: The twentieth-century United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-22, February.
    18. Filmer, Deon & Pritchett, Lant, 1999. "The impact of public spending on health: does money matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 49(10), pages 1309-1323, November.
    19. Yoram Ben-Porath, 1967. "The Production of Human Capital and the Life Cycle of Earnings," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75(4), pages 352-352.
    20. Gupta, Sanjeev & Verhoeven, Marijn & Tiongson, Erwin R., 2002. "The effectiveness of government spending on education and health care in developing and transition economies," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 717-737, November.
    21. Filmer, Deon & Hammer, Jeffrey S & Pritchett, Lant H, 2000. "Weak Links in the Chain: A Diagnosis of Health Policy in Poor Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 15(2), pages 199-224, August.
    22. James M. Poterba, 1996. "Government Intervention in the Markets for Education and Health Care: How and Why?," NBER Chapters, in: Individual and Social Responsibility: Child Care, Education, Medical Care, and Long-Term Care in America, pages 277-308, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Rexford E. Santerre, Stephen G. Grubaugh, and Andrew J. Stollar, 1991. "Government Intervention in Health Care Markets and Health Care Outcomes: Some International Evidence," Cato Journal, Cato Journal, Cato Institute, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, Spring/Su.
    24. Buhong Zheng, 2011. "A new approach to measure socioeconomic inequality in health," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 9(4), pages 555-577, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kin Sibanda & Alungile Qoko & Dorcas Gonese, 2024. "Health Expenditure, Institutional Quality, and Under-Five Mortality in Sub-Saharan African Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(3), pages 1-23, March.
    2. Bernadette O'Hare & Steve G. Hall, 2022. "The Impact of Government Revenue on the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Amplification Potential of Good Governance," Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, vol. 14(2), pages 109-129, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Micheal Kofi Boachie & K. Ramu & Tatjana Põlajeva, 2018. "Public Health Expenditures and Health Outcomes: New Evidence from Ghana," Economies, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-25, October.
    2. Boachie, Micheal Kofi & Ramu, K., 2015. "Public Health Expenditure and Health Status in Ghana," MPRA Paper 66371, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Hilaire Gbodja Houeninvo, 2022. "Effects of health expenditures on infant and child mortality rates: A dynamic panel data analysis of 37 African countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 34(2), pages 255-267, June.
    4. Mohanty, Ranjan Kumar & Behera, Deepak Kumar, 2020. "How Effective is Public Health Care Expenditure in Improving Health Outcome? An Empirical Evidence from the Indian States," Working Papers 20/300, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
    5. AfDB AfDB, 2007. "Working Paper 91 - Health Expenditures and Health Outcomes in Africa," Working Paper Series 2224, African Development Bank.
    6. Yusuke Kamiya, 2010. "Determinants of Health in Developing Countries:Cross-Country Evidence," OSIPP Discussion Paper 10E009, Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University.
    7. AfDB AfDB, 2007. "Working Paper 91 - Health Expenditures and Health Outcomes in Africa," Working Paper Series 2304, African Development Bank.
    8. Zechariah Langnel & Ponlapat Buracom, 2020. "Governance, health expenditure and infant mortality in sub‐Saharan Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(4), pages 673-685, December.
    9. Deepak Kumar Behera & Umakant Dash, 2020. "Is health expenditure effective for achieving healthcare goals? Empirical evidence from South-East Asia Region," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 593-618, June.
    10. Kossi Atsutsè Dziédzom Tsomdzo & Yacobou Sanoussi & Kodjo Evlo, 2022. "Investissement en santé et état de santé dans les pays de l'UEMOA: entre contribution publique et privée?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 34(2), pages 244-254, June.
    11. Gebregziabher, Fiseha & Niño-Zarazúa, Miguel, 2014. "Social spending and aggregate welfare in developing and transition economies," WIDER Working Paper Series 082, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Noshaba Aziz & Jun He & Tanwne Sarker & Hongguang Sui, 2021. "Exploring the Role of Health Expenditure and Maternal Mortality in South Asian Countries: An Approach towards Shaping Better Health Policy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-14, November.
    13. Eric Arthur & Hassan E. Oaikhenan, 2017. "The Effects of Health Expenditure on Health Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 29(3), pages 524-536, September.
    14. Issa Dianda & Idrissa Ouedraogo, 2021. "The synergistic effect of government health spending and institutional quality on health capital accumulation in WAEMU countries," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 41(2), pages 495-506.
    15. Marwa Farag & A. Nandakumar & Stanley Wallack & Dominic Hodgkin & Gary Gaumer & Can Erbil, 2013. "Health expenditures, health outcomes and the role of good governance," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 33-52, March.
    16. Faisal Abbas & Haroon Sarwar Awan, 2018. "What Determines Health Status of Population in Pakistan?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 1-23, August.
    17. Seemab Gillani & Muhammad Nouman Shafiq & Tusawar Iftikhar Ahmad, 2019. "Military Expenditures and Health Outcomes: A Global Perspective," iRASD Journal of Energy and Environment, International Research Association for Sustainable Development (iRASD), vol. 1(1), pages 1-20, June.
    18. Jaison Chireshe & Matthew K. Ocran, 2020. "Health care expenditure and health outcomes in sub‐Saharan African countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(3), pages 349-361, September.
    19. Stephen Hall & Janine Illian & Innocent Makuta & Kyle McNabb & Stuart Murray & Bernadette AM O’Hare & Andre Python & Syed Haider Ali Zaidi & Naor Bar-Zeev, 2021. "Government Revenue and Child and Maternal Mortality," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 213-229, February.
    20. Fiseha Gebregziabher & Miguel Niño-Zarazúa, 2014. "Social Spending and Aggregate Welfare in Developing and Transition Economies," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-082, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:jodepp:v:5:y:2020:i:1:p:54-73. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.