ISSN:1057-9230    

DOI:10.1002/hec.4730040301

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractPrevious time series analyses of infant mortality have failed to provide evidence to support their implicit assumption that infant mortality data used behaved as a stationary time series. The present study applies the augmented Dickey Fuller Test to infant mortality time series for Sweden (1800‐1989), United Kingdom (1839‐1989) and United States (1915‐1989). The null hypothesis that each of these series is non‐stationary is accepted at standard levels of significance. A conceptual framework of infant mortality which uses a combination of physical and social overhead capital as factors in a production function is developed to explain the finding of non‐stationarity as derivative from the non‐stationarity of a stock of health‐enhancing capital. Estimation of econometric models of the socioeconomic determinants of infant mortality using differenced data with ARIMA estimation is inconclusive. Estimation of a bivariate cointegration model supports the hypothesis that infant survival and GNP/Capita are cointegrated for 19th century Sweden but not for 19th century UK. Bivariate analysis of 20th century Sweden, UK, and US data demonstrated no cointegration. This may be due to the onset of disequilibrium in the economic determination of infant mortality in the present era as technological advances and demographic shifts began to play a larger role. Supplementing the bivariate analysis with measures of unemployment, and crude birth rate in the 20th century permitted the detection of cointegration in US and UK. The multivariate results may suggest that improvements in 20th century UK GNP/capita have had greater impact on infant survival relative to

ISSN:1057-9230    

DOI:10.1002/hec.4730040302

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe paper develops and applies a Grossman‐style health production model set up in discrete time to explain the impact of environmental pollution on the demand for both health and health care. In order to introduce the environment, our analysis takes changes in environmental conditions to influence the rate at which an individual's stock of health depreciates. While the theoretical part of our paper also contains a discussion of the full model, we restrict our empirical analysis to a submodel which is known as the pure investment model. This is because the other submodel, the pure consumption model, implies a rather implausible case of satiation with respect to the individual's preferences.Our empirical findings are based on data taken from the German Socio‐economic Panel. The stock of health capital and environmental pollution are treated as latent variables and estimated using a Linear Covariance Structures model. The quality of the environment turns out to be an important determinant of health capital. From the point of view of health economics, improvements in environmental conditions can be interpreted as preventive measures. In terms of prevention, public policies designed to protect the environment also yield significant health effects. As regards health care demand the influence is not clearcut, i.e., one cannot necessarily expect a reduction in resource

ISSN:1057-9230    

DOI:10.1002/hec.4730040303

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe two‐part estimation technique has been advocated for estimating models using individual level health care utilization data characterised by a large proportion of non‐consumption and small proportions of heavy users. This paper compares the two‐part model to several other estimators, including the Poisson, negative binomial and 'zero altered' negative binomial models on the basis of within‐sample forecasting accuracy and non‐nested model selection tests. The empirical model estimates the differential effect of the removal of copayments for prescription medicines on the prescription drug utilization by older adults with differing levels of health status. The two‐part estimator of this model is found to dominate the competitors. Results from this model indicate that utilization increases appear to be higher among individuals with lower levels of he

ISSN:1057-9230    

DOI:10.1002/hec.4730040304

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractIn Finland, municipal health care expenditure varies from FIM 3 800 per capita to FIM 7 800 per capita. The objective of this study was to estimate the impact of different economic, structural and demographic factors on the per capita costs of health services and care of the elderly. Using regression analysis we attempted to explain observed differences in expenditure by determining separately the effects of allocative and productive inefficiency and the effects of factors influencing the demand for services. We found income level of local population, generosity of central government matching grant, allocative efficiency (the mix of care between institutional and non‐institutional care), productive efficiency of service providers, and factors associated with the need of services (age structure, morbidity) to be the most important determinants of health care expenditure. Our results reveal that municipalities have the means at their disposal (by shifting resources to outpatient care and increasing productivity) to significantly reduce expenditure on health services and care of the elderl

ISSN:1057-9230    

DOI:10.1002/hec.4730040305

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractSince the inception of the NHS, user charges have been present for prescription medication. However since 1968 there has been a steady increase in this charge, particularly notable during the 1980s. The main justification for user charges is their revenue raising potential, and a recent government report has backed the use of user charges for prescription drugs. Whilst there is extensive evidence of the impact of user charges on utilisation of health care in the US, few studies exist in the UK. An accurate estimation of the price elasticity of utilisation is necessary if the full consequences of user charges are to be examined. This paper uses a cointegration estimation technique to estimate the price elasticity for prescription drug utilisation in the UK.

ISSN:1057-9230    

DOI:10.1002/hec.4730040306

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe use of subjective health measures in empirical models of labour supply and retirement decisions has frequently been criticized. Responses to questions concerning health may be biased due to financial incentives and the willingness to conform to social rules. The eligibility conditions for some social security allowances, notably Disability Insurance benefits, are contingent upon bad health. Even if the decision to apply for a disability allowance is to some extent motivated by financial considerations or a relatively strong preference for leisure, respondents will be inclined to play down these motives and emphasize the importance of their health condition. As a consequence, reporting errors may depend on the labour market status of the respondent and self‐reported health variables will be endogenous in labour supply and retirement models. The objective of this paper is to assess the importance of state dependent reporting errors in survey responses and to propose and estimate a model that can be used to account for this kind of systematic mis‐reporting. The estimation results indicate that among respondents receiving Disability Allowance, reporting errors are large and systematic. Using such subjective health measures in retirement models may therefore seriously bias the parameter estimates and the conclusions drawn from th

ISSN:1057-9230    

DOI:10.1002/hec.4730040307

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractGeneral Household Survey (GHS) data sets, covering the period 1978‐1990, are pooled to investigate the relationship between the riskiness of individuals' self‐reported drinking behaviour and a wide range of personal characteristics and economic factors. A grouped data regression approach is used to reduce problems with the inaccuracy of self‐reports of alcohol consumption and clustering of observations in the consumption data. Results for males aged 18 to 24 years are presented, and possible methods for interpreting the results of grouped data regression are illustrated. Controlling for other factors, current smokers are estimated to be at a 75% higher risk of drinking over recommended levels than non‐smokers. Particular attention is paid to the interactions between the price of alcohol, income and heavy drinking. At average levels of income, a 5% increase in the real price of alcohol is predicted to reduce the probability of 'at‐risk' drinking by 1.5%. At lower initial levels of income, drinking patterns are found to be more responsive to both price and income changes. Grouped data regression is proposed as a way of focusing policy analysis on individual risks of alcohol‐related health and soci

ISSN:1057-9230    

DOI:10.1002/hec.4730040308

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY