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on Health Economics |
| By: | Raouf, BOUCEKKINE (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Department of Economics); Bity, DIENE; Theophile, AZOMAHOU |
| Abstract: | This paper examines in an endogenous growth theory perspective the mechanisms through which epidemics affect long term growth. Investment in both physical and human capital are key transmission variables in this respect. The paper distinguishes between Spanish flu like epidemics and AIDS like epidemics. Two-sector growth models are shown to better reflect the specific effects of epidemics. The effects of an AIDS like pandemic on savings and education effort are also modelled via life expectancy. The paper is closed by an extension of the celebrated Cuddington-Hancock model to account for the latter features. An application to the South African case is provided. The main finding points at a delayed effect of Aids on economic growth due to the recent sharp drop in llife expectancy in this country. |
| Keywords: | Epidemics, Human capital, Life expectancy, Growth theory, Spanish flu, AIDS |
| JEL: | C61 C62 |
| Date: | 2006–05–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvec:2006021&r=hea |
| By: | Daron Acemoglu; Amy Finkelstein |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the implications of regulatory change for the input mix and technology choices of regulated industries. We present a simple neoclassical framework that emphasizes the change in relative factor prices associated with the regulatory change from full cost to partial cost reimbursement, and investigate how this affects firms’ technology choices through substitution of (capital embodied) technologies for tasks previously performed by labor. We examine these implications empirically by studying the change from full cost to partial cost reimbursement under the Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS) reform, which increased the relative price of labor faced by U.S. hospitals. Using the interaction of hospitals’ pre-PPS Medicare share of patient days with the introduction of these regulatory changes, we document a substantial increase in capital-labor ratios and a large decline in labor inputs associated with PPS. Most interestingly, we find that the PPS reform seems to have encouraged the adoption of a range of new medical technologies. We also show that the reform was associated with an increase in the skill composition of these hospitals, which is consistent with technology-skill or capital-skill complementarities. |
| JEL: | H51 I18 L50 L51 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2006–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12254&r=hea |
| By: | Anne Case; Christina Paxson; Tom Vogl |
| Abstract: | Understanding whether the gradient in children's health becomes steeper with age is an important first step in uncovering the mechanisms that connect economic and health status, and in recommending sensible interventions to protect children's health. To that end, this paper examines why two sets of authors, Chen et al (2006) and Case et al (2002), using data from the same source, reach markedly different conclusions about income-health gradients in childhood. We find that differences can be explained primarily by the inclusion (exclusion) of a handful of younger adults living independently. |
| JEL: | I1 |
| Date: | 2006–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12267&r=hea |
| By: | Yarim Shamsan (Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, University of the West of England); Don J. Webber (School of Economics, University of the West of England); Paul White (Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, University of the West of England) |
| Abstract: | Economists use various measures to account for the affect of poverty, welfare or health on economic growth but there is a lack of understanding of the movement of such variables over time and whether countries experiences similar trends. This paper presents an analysis of life expectancy across Africa and the Middle East and identifies trends that can be clustered in experience, although a convergence in experience appears prominent. The statistical analysis is repeated for fertility, GNP and mortality rates but we find there is no guarantee that countries will experience similar experiences across these measures. |
| Keywords: | Life Expectancy; GNP; Fertility; Mortality; Africa; Middle East |
| JEL: | C40 O11 |
| Date: | 2006–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwe:wpaper:0607&r=hea |
| By: | Wilson, Chris M (University of East Anglia); Oswald, Andrew J (University of Warwick and Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines an accumulating modern literature on the health benefits of relationships like marriage. Although much remains to be understood about the physiological channels, we draw the judgment, after looking across many journals and disciplines, that there is persuasive longitudinal evidence for such effects. The size of the health gain from marriage is remarkable. It may be as large as the benefit from giving up smoking. |
| Keywords: | mortality ; health ; marriage ; happiness ; longitudinal |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:warwec:728&r=hea |