nep-hea New Economics Papers
on Helth Economics
Issue of 2005‒02‒06
five papers chosen by
Yong Yin
SUNY at Buffalo, USA

  1. Willigness to Pay for Long-Term Care Coverage: the Role of Private Information and Self-Insurance By Costa-Font,J.; Rovira-Forns, J.
  2. Healthy, Educated and Wealthy: Is the Welfare State Really Harmful for Growth? By Beraldo, S.; Montolio, D.; Turati, G.
  3. The Impact of Poor Health Behaviors on Workforce Disability By Caroline Richardson; Jennifer T. Hanlon; Hillary J. Mull; Sandeep Vijan; Rodney Hayward; Linda A. Wray; Kenneth M. Langa
  4. The Political Economy of Health Services Provision and Access in Brazil By Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak; Andrew Sunil Rajkumar; Maureen L. Cropper
  5. Interactions between the Agricultural Sector and the HIV/AIDS Pandemic: Implications for Agricultural Policy By Thomas S. Jayne; Marcela Villarreal; Prabhu Pingali; Gunter Hemrich

  1. By: Costa-Font,J.; Rovira-Forns, J. (Universitat de Barcelona)
    Abstract: Both public and private insurance for long-term care is undeveloped in some European countries such as in Spain and empirical evidence is still limited. This paper aims at exmining the determinants of the demand for Long Term Care (LTC) coverage in Spain using contingent valuation techniques. Our findings indicate that only one-fifth of the population is willing to pay to assure coverage decisions are significantly affected by private information asymmetry and housing tenure in giving rise to self-insurance reduces the probability of insurance being hypothetically purchased
    JEL: D63 D78 I11 H43
    Date: 2004
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bar:bedcje:2004124&r=hea
  2. By: Beraldo, S.; Montolio, D.; Turati, G. (Universitat de Barcelona)
    Abstract: In this paper, we study how public and private expenditures in health and education affect economic growth by their influence on people’s health, abilities, skills and knowledge. We consider a growth accounting framework in order to test whether welfare expenditures more than offset the efficiency losses caused by distortionary taxation, and whether the effects of public expenditure on economic growth differ from those of private expenditure. Our empirical analysis is based on a panel of 19 OECD countries observed between 1971 and 1998. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the contribution of welfare expenditures more than compensates for the distortions caused by the tax system; and the estimated positive impact is stronger for health than for education. We also find some evidence that public expenditure influences GDP growth more than private expenditure.
    JEL: H51 H52 I38 O47
    Date: 2005
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bar:bedcje:2005127&r=hea
  3. By: Caroline Richardson (University of Michigan); Jennifer T. Hanlon (University of Michigan); Hillary J. Mull (University of Michigan); Sandeep Vijan (University of Michigan); Rodney Hayward (University of Michigan); Linda A. Wray (Pennsylvania State University); Kenneth M. Langa (University of Michigan)
    Abstract: The effects of poor health habits on mortality have been studied extensively. However, few studies have examined the impact of these health behaviors on workforce disability. In the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative cohort of 6044 Americans who were between the ages of 51 and 61 and who were working in 1992, we found that both baseline smoking status and a sedentary lifestyle predict workforce disability six years later. If this relationship is causal, cost-benefit analyses of health behavior intervention that neglect workforce disability may substantially underestimate the benefits of such interventions.
    Date: 2003–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mrr:papers:wp057&r=hea
  4. By: Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak; Andrew Sunil Rajkumar; Maureen L. Cropper
    Abstract: Mobarak, Rajkumar, and Cropper examine the impact of local politics and government structure on the allocation of publicly subsidized (SUS) health services across municipios (counties) in Brazil, and on the probability that uninsured individuals who require medical attention actually receive access to those health services. Using data from the 1998 PNAD survey they demonstrate that higher per capita levels of SUS doctors, nurses, and clinic rooms increase the probability that an uninsured individual gains access to health services when he or she seeks it. The authors find that an increase in income inequality, an increase in the percentage of the population that votes, and an increase in the percentage of votes going to left-leaning candidates are each associated with higher levels of public health services. The per capita provision of doctors, nurses, and clinics is also greater in counties with a popular local leader and in counties where the county mayor and state governor are politically aligned. Administrative decentralization of health services to the county decreases provision levels and reduces access to services by the uninsured unless it is accompanied by good local governance. This paper is a product of the Infrastructure and Environment Team, Development Research Group.
    Keywords: Health & Population; Public Sector Management
    Date: 2005–02–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3508&r=hea
  5. By: Thomas S. Jayne (Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University); Marcela Villarreal; Prabhu Pingali; Gunter Hemrich
    Abstract: This work considers how the design of agricultural policies and programmes might be modified to better achieve policy objectives in the context of countries with severe HIV epidemics and underscores the central role of agricultural policy in mitigating the spread and impacts of the epidemic.
    Keywords: food security, food policy, agricultural policy, HIV/AIDS, structural transformation, production factors
    JEL: Q18 J43 O12
    Date: 2004
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:msu:polbrf:072&r=hea

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