IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0189915.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Willingness to pay for health insurance in the informal sector of Sierra Leone

Author

Listed:
  • Mireia Jofre-Bonet
  • Joseph Kamara

Abstract

Purpose: The objective of this project is to study the willingness to pay (WTP) for health insurance (HI) of individuals working in the informal sector in Sierra Leone, using a purposely-designed survey of a representative sample of this sector. Methods: We elicit the WTP using the Double-Bounded Dichotomous Choice with Follow Up method. We also examine the factors that are positively and negatively associated with the likelihood of the respondents to answer affirmatively to joining a HI scheme and to paying three different possible premiums, to join the HI scheme. We additionally analyze the individual and household characteristics associated with the maximum amount the household is willing to pay to join the HI scheme. Results: The results indicate that the average WTP for the HI is 20,237.16 SLL (3.6 USD) per adult but it ranges from about 14,000 SLL (2.5 USD) to about 35,000 SLL (6.2 USD) depending on region, occupation, household and respondent characteristics. The analysis of the maximum WTP indicates that living outside the Western region and working in farming instead of petty trade are associated with a decrease in the maximum premium respondents are WTP for the HI scheme. Instead, the maximum WTP is positively associated to being a driver or a biker; having secondary or tertiary education (as opposed to not having any); the number of pregnant women in the household; having a TV; and, having paid for the last medical requirement. Conclusions: In summary, the various analyses show that a premium for the HI package could be set at approximately 20,000 SLL (3.54 USD) but also that establishing a single premium for all individuals in the informal sector could be risky. The efficient functioning of a HI scheme relies on covering as much of the population as possible, in order to spread risks and make the scheme viable. The impact of the various population characteristics raises the issue of how to rate premiums. In other words, setting a premium that may be too high for a big proportion of the population could mean losing many potential enrollees and might have viability consequences for the operation of the scheme.

Suggested Citation

  • Mireia Jofre-Bonet & Joseph Kamara, 2018. "Willingness to pay for health insurance in the informal sector of Sierra Leone," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-18, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0189915
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189915
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0189915
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0189915&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0189915?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Mark Dror, 2018. "Systematic Review of Willingness to Pay for Health Insurance in Low and Middle Income Countries," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Financing Micro Health Insurance Theory, Methods and Evidence, chapter 8, pages 151-168, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. Jofre-Bonet, Mireia & Kamara, Joseph, 2018. "Willingness to pay for health insurance in the informal sector of Sierra Leone," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 89836, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Michael Hanemann & John Loomis & Barbara Kanninen, 1991. "Statistical Efficiency of Double-Bounded Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 73(4), pages 1255-1263.
    4. Alan Diener & Bernie O'Brien & Amiram Gafni, 1998. "Health care contingent valuation studies: a review and classification of the literature," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 7(4), pages 313-326, June.
    5. Pinuccia Calia & Elisabetta Strazzera, 2000. "Bias and efficiency of single versus double bound models for contingent valuation studies: a Monte Carlo analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(10), pages 1329-1336.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Monica Ewomazino Akokuwebe & Erhabor Sunday Idemudia, 2022. "A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study of the Prevalence and Determinants of Health Insurance Coverage in Nigeria and South Africa: A Multi-Country Analysis of Demographic Health Surveys," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-26, February.
    2. Sadiq, Mohammed Sanusi & Ahmad, Muhammad Makarfi & Gama, Emmanuel Nkwie & Sambo, Abbas Aliyu, 2024. "Morbidity Cost and Willingness to Pay for Healthcare Insurance among Wheat Farmers in Jigawa State of Nigeria," Problems of World Agriculture / Problemy Rolnictwa Światowego, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, vol. 24(1), March.
    3. Jofre-Bonet, Mireia & Kamara, Joseph, 2018. "Willingness to pay for health insurance in the informal sector of Sierra Leone," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 89836, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Muttaqien Muttaqien & Hermawati Setiyaningsih & Vini Aristianti & Harry Laurence Selby Coleman & Muhammad Syamsu Hidayat & Erzan Dhanalvin & Dedy Revelino Siregar & Ali Ghufron Mukti & Maarten Olivier, 2021. "Why did informal sector workers stop paying for health insurance in Indonesia? Exploring enrollees’ ability and willingness to pay," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-19, June.
    5. Soeb Md. Shoayeb Noman, 2021. "Government Employees of Bangladesh and their Willingness to Pay for Social Health Insurance," Business and Economic Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 11(2), pages 207-217, June.
    6. Petro G. Nzowa & Felix A. Nandonde & Somo M. L. Seimu, 2023. "Mediation effect of trust on willingness to pay for health insurance among co-operative members in Tanzania," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-15, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jofre-Bonet, Mireia & Kamara, Joseph, 2018. "Willingness to pay for health insurance in the informal sector of Sierra Leone," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 89836, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Zapata, Samuel D. & Carpio, Carlos E., . "Distribution-Free Methods to Estimate Willingness to Pay Models Using Discrete Response Valuation Data," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 49(1).
    3. Zapata, Samuel D. & Carpio, Carlos E., 2014. "Distribution-free Methods for Estimation of Willingness to Pay Models Using Discrete Response Valuation Data," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170453, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Soeb Md. Shoayeb Noman, 2021. "Government Employees of Bangladesh and their Willingness to Pay for Social Health Insurance," Business and Economic Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 11(2), pages 207-217, June.
    5. Franz Hackl & Gerald J. Pruckner, 2005. "Warm glow, free‐riding and vehicle neutrality in a health‐related contingent valuation study," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(3), pages 293-306, March.
    6. Rong-Chang Jou & Yuan-Chan Wu & Ke-Hong Chen, 2011. "Analysis of the environmental benefits of a motorcycle idling stop policy at urban intersections," Transportation, Springer, vol. 38(6), pages 1017-1033, November.
    7. Dmitriy Li & Meenakshi Rishi & Jeong Hwan Bae, 2023. "Regional Differences in Willingness to Pay for Mitigation of Air Pollution from Coal-Fired Power Plants in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-17, December.
    8. Watson, Verity & Ryan, Mandy, 2007. "Exploring preference anomalies in double bounded contingent valuation," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 463-482, May.
    9. Mohammed Seid & Amare Minyihun & Gizachew Tilahun & Asmamaw Atnafu & Getasew Amare, 2021. "Willingness to pay for cataract surgery and associated factors among cataract patients in Outreach Site, North West Ethiopia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-15, March.
    10. Xiao-Hua Ying & Teh-Wei Hu & Jane Ren & Wen Chen & Ke Xu & Jin-Hui Huang, 2007. "Demand for private health insurance in Chinese urban areas," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(10), pages 1041-1050.
    11. Vilela, Thais & Malky Harb, Alfonso & Mendizábal Vergara, Carla, 2022. "Chileans' willingness to pay for protected areas," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    12. Gebretsadik, Kidanemariam Abreha & Romstad, Eirik, 2020. "Climate and farmers’ willingness to pay for improved irrigation water supply," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    13. Kwideok Han & Jeffrey Vitale & Yong-Geon Lee & Inbae Ji, 2022. "Measuring the Economic Value of the Negative Externality of Livestock Malodor in South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-13, August.
    14. Mekonnen, Tigist, 2017. "Willingness to pay for agricultural risk insurance as a strategy to adapt climate change," MERIT Working Papers 2017-028, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    15. Genius, Margarita & Strazzera, Elisabetta, 2011. "Can unbiased be tighter? Assessment of methods to reduce the bias-variance trade-off in WTP estimation," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 293-314, January.
    16. Oerlemans, Leon A.G. & Chan, Kai-Ying & Volschenk, Jako, 2016. "Willingness to pay for green electricity: A review of the contingent valuation literature and its sources of error," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 875-885.
    17. Togba V. Sumo & Cecilia Ritho & Patrick Irungu, 2023. "Determinants of Smallholder Rice Farmers’ Willingness-to-Pay for Private Extension Services in Liberia: The Case of Gibi District," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-13, September.
    18. Hasan-Basri, Bakti & Samdin, Zaiton & Noor Ghani, Awang, 2020. "Willingness to Pay for Conservation of Mangrove Forest in Kuala Perlis, Malaysia," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 54(3), pages 89-99.
    19. Azlina, A. A. & Abu Bakar, Shahida & Kamaludin, Mahirah & Ghani, Awang Noor, 2022. "Willingness to Pay for Renewable Energy: Evidence From High Wind and Wave Energy Potential Areas," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 56(1), pages 59-70.
    20. Blemings, Benjamin & Zhang, Peilu & Neill, Clinton L., 2023. "Where is the value? The impacts of sow gestation crate laws on pork supply and consumer value perceptions," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0189915. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.