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The Private Health Care Sector and the Provision of Prenatal Care Services in Latin America

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  • Arrieta, Alejandro
  • García-Prado, Ariadna
  • Guillén, Jorge

Abstract

Summary In the last two decades, private providers have become an important source of health care in Latin America, and yet, there is little documentation concerning its effectiveness in providing basic public and preventive health services. We use Demographic and Health Surveys from six Latin American countries to compare the effectiveness of the private versus public sector in providing basic health interventions such as prenatal care. We find that the number of prenatal visits is higher in the private sector, but this is not associated with higher birth weight. We discuss different strategies to improve the role of private providers.

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  • Arrieta, Alejandro & García-Prado, Ariadna & Guillén, Jorge, 2011. "The Private Health Care Sector and the Provision of Prenatal Care Services in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 579-587, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:39:y:2011:i:4:p:579-587
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    Cited by:

    1. Alejandro Arrieta & Ariadna García-Prado, 2012. "Non-elective cesarean sections in public hospitals: hospital capacity constraints and doctor´s incentives," Documentos de Trabajo - Lan Gaiak Departamento de Economía - Universidad Pública de Navarra 1212, Departamento de Economía - Universidad Pública de Navarra.
    2. Mpakati Gama, Elvis & McPake, Barbara & Newlands, David, 2013. "The implication of contracting out health care services: The case of service level agreements in Malawi," MPRA Paper 52980, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Jacob Assa & Cecilia Calderon, 2020. "Privatization and Pandemic: A Cross-Country Analysis of COVID-19 Rates and Health-Care Financing Structures," Working Papers 2008, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    4. Austin, Kelly F. & DeScisciolo, Cristina & Samuelsen, Lene, 2016. "The Failures of Privatization: A Comparative Investigation of Tuberculosis Rates and the Structure of Healthcare in Less-Developed Nations, 1995–2010," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 450-460.
    5. Alejandro Arrieta & Ariadna García Prado, 2016. "Non-elective C-sections in public hospitals: capacity constraints and doctor incentives," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(49), pages 4719-4731, October.
    6. Bhatia, M. & Dwivedi, L.K. & Banerjee, K. & Dixit, P., 2020. "An epidemic of avoidable caesarean deliveries in the private sector in India: Is physician-induced demand at play?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).

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