The influence of (public) health expenditure on longevity

Pueyo Baldellou, Fernando (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Clemente, Jesús (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Aisa Rived, Rosa María (Universidad de Zaragoza)

Resumen: Objectives
We report new evidence on the contribution of health expenditure to increasing life expectancy in OECD countries, differentiating the effects of public and private health expenditures.
Methods
A theoretical model is presented and estimated though a cross-country fixed effects multiple regression analysis for a sample of OECD countries over the period 1980–2000.
Results
Although the effect of aggregate health expenditure is not conclusive, public health expenditure plays a significant role in enhancing longevity. However, its influence diminishes as the size of the public health sector on GDP expands, reaching a maximum around the 8 %.
Conclusions
With the influence of public health expenditure being positive, the ambiguous effect of the aggregate expenditure suggests that the weight of public and private health sectors matters, the second having a lower impact on longevity. This might explain the poor evolution of the life expectancy in countries with a high amount of private resources devoted to health. In such cases, an extension of public services could give rise to a better outcome from the overall health investment.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1007/s00038-014-0574-6

Año: 2014

Publicado en: International Journal of Public Health 59 (2014), 867-875
ISSN: 1661-8556

Factor impacto JCR: 2.701 (2014)

Categ. JCR: PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH rank: 18 / 146 = 0.123 (2014) - Q1 - T1
Categ. JCR: PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH rank: 39 / 164 = 0.238 (2014) - Q1 - T1

Tipo y forma: Artículo (Versión definitiva)

Área (Departamento): Área Fund. Análisis Económico (Dpto. Análisis Económico)