IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/hecrev/v10y2020i1d10.1186_s13561-020-00262-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effects of health expenditure on infant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from panel data analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Girmay Tsegay Kiross

    (Debre Markos University
    University of Newcastle)

  • Catherine Chojenta

    (University of Newcastle)

  • Daniel Barker

    (University of Newcastle)

  • Deborah Loxton

    (University of Newcastle)

Abstract

Introduction Although health expenditure in sub-Saharan African countries is the lowest compared with other regions in the world, most African countries have improved their budget allocations to health care over the past 15 years. The majority of health care sources in sub-Saharan Africa are private and largely involve out-of-pocket expenditure, which may prevent healthcare access. Access to healthcare is a known predictor of infant mortality. Therefore the objective of this study is to determine the impact of health care expenditure on infant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods The study used panel data from World Bank Development Indictors (WDI) from 2000 to 2015 covering 46 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The random effects model was selected over the fixed effects model based on the Hausman test to assess the effect of health care expenditure on infant and neonatal mortality. Results Both public and external health care spending showed a significant negative association with infant and neonatal mortality. However, private health expenditure was not significantly associated with either infant or neonatal mortality. In this study, private expenditure includes funds from households, corporations and non-profit organizations. Public expenditure include domestic revenue as internal transfers and grants, transfers, subsidies to voluntary health insurance beneficiaries, non-profit institutions serving households or enterprise financing schemes as well as compulsory prepayment and social health insurance contributions. External health expenditure is composed of direct foreign transfers and foreign transfers distributed by government encompassing all financial inflows into the national health system from outside the country. Conclusion Health care expenditure remains a crucial component of reducing infant and neonatal mortality in sub-Saharan African countries. In the region, where health infrastructure is largely underdeveloped, increasing health expenditure will contribute to progress towards reducing infant and neonatal mortality during the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) era. Therefore, governments in the region need to increase amounts allocated to health care service delivery in order to reduce infant mortality.

Suggested Citation

  • Girmay Tsegay Kiross & Catherine Chojenta & Daniel Barker & Deborah Loxton, 2020. "The effects of health expenditure on infant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from panel data analysis," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:hecrev:v:10:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1186_s13561-020-00262-3
    DOI: 10.1186/s13561-020-00262-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s13561-020-00262-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1186/s13561-020-00262-3?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. Jacob Novignon & Solomon Olakojo & Justice Nonvignon, 2012. "The effects of public and private health care expenditure on health status in sub-Saharan Africa: new evidence from panel data analysis," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Peter Boone, 1995. "Politics and the Effectiveness of Foreign Aid," CEP Discussion Papers dp0272, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. World Health Organization & World Bank, 2017. "Tracking Universal Health Coverage," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 29042.
    4. Yousuf, Ahmed Sadek, 2012. "Impact of Health Aid on Infant Mortality Rate," MPRA Paper 42945, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 12 Oct 2012.
    5. Emanuele Baldacci & Maria Teresa Guin-Siu & Luiz De Mello, 2003. "More on the effectiveness of public spending on health care and education: a covariance structure model," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(6), pages 709-725.
    6. Filmer, Deon & Pritchett, Lant, 1999. "The impact of public spending on health: does money matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 49(10), pages 1309-1323, November.
    7. Yousuf, Ahmed Sadek, 2012. "Assessing Impact of Health Oriented Aid on Infant Mortality Rates," MPRA Paper 43212, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Dec 2012.
    8. Peter Boone, 1995. "Politics and the Effectiveness of Foreign Aid," NBER Working Papers 5308, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Grossman, Michael, 2000. "The human capital model," Handbook of Health Economics, in: A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 7, pages 347-408, Elsevier.
    10. Eric Arthur & Hassan E. Oaikhenan, 2017. "The Effects of Health Expenditure on Health Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 29(3), pages 524-536, September.
    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. Mathurin Aimé Mekam Pouatcha & Marilena Giannetti & Elton Beqiraj, 2024. "The relationship between FDI and population health in Sub-Saharan Africa: The role of per-capita income," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 44(2), pages 557-570.
    2. E. Musoke & B.L. Yawe & J.D. Ssentamu, 2023. "Determinants of technical efficiency of health systems in African least developed countries: A two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach," Journal of Economic Policy and Management Issues, JEPMI, vol. 2(1), pages 59-75.
    3. Alssadek, Marwan & Benhin, James, 2023. "Natural resource curse: A literature survey and comparative assessment of regional groupings of oil-rich countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    4. Noshaba Aziz & Jun He & Tanwne Sarker & Hongguang Sui, 2021. "Exploring the Role of Health Expenditure and Maternal Mortality in South Asian Countries: An Approach towards Shaping Better Health Policy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-14, November.
    5. Jingwen Huo & Jing Meng & Heran Zheng & Priti Parikh & Dabo Guan, 2023. "Achieving decent living standards in emerging economies challenges national mitigation goals for CO2 emissions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Byaro, Mwoya & Mayaya, Hozen & Pelizzo, Riccardo, 2022. "Sustainable Development Goals for Sub-Saharan Africans' by 2030: A Pathway to Longer Life Expectancy via Higher Health-Care Spending and Low Disease Burdens," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 10(2), March.
    7. Feng Chen, 2023. "Does paid family leave save infant lives? Evidence from California's paid family leave program," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(2), pages 319-337, April.
    8. Mduduzi Biyase & Tajul Ariffin Masron & Talent Zwane & Thomas Bilaliib Udimal & Frederich Kirsten, 2023. "Ecological Footprint and Population Health Outcomes: Evidence from E7 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-18, May.
    9. Jaison Chireshe & Matthew K. Ocran, 2020. "Health care expenditure and health outcomes in sub‐Saharan African countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(3), pages 349-361, September.
    10. Shazia Kousar & Farhan Ahmed & Muhammad Afzal & Juan E. Trinidad Segovia, 2023. "Is government spending in the education and health sector necessary for human capital development?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    11. Hilaire Gbodja Houeninvo, 2022. "Effects of health expenditures on infant and child mortality rates: A dynamic panel data analysis of 37 African countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 34(2), pages 255-267, June.

    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. Zechariah Langnel & Ponlapat Buracom, 2020. "Governance, health expenditure and infant mortality in sub‐Saharan Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(4), pages 673-685, December.
    2. Hilaire Gbodja Houeninvo, 2022. "Effects of health expenditures on infant and child mortality rates: A dynamic panel data analysis of 37 African countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 34(2), pages 255-267, June.
    3. Eric Arthur & Hassan E. Oaikhenan, 2017. "The Effects of Health Expenditure on Health Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 29(3), pages 524-536, September.
    4. Boachie, Micheal Kofi & Ramu, K., 2015. "Public Health Expenditure and Health Status in Ghana," MPRA Paper 66371, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Byaro, Mwoya & Mpeta, Daniel, 2021. "Secondary Education and its Effects on Child Health: Empirical Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 9(2), April.
    6. Issa Dianda & Idrissa Ouedraogo, 2021. "The synergistic effect of government health spending and institutional quality on health capital accumulation in WAEMU countries," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 41(2), pages 495-506.
    7. Micheal Kofi Boachie & K. Ramu & Tatjana Põlajeva, 2018. "Public Health Expenditures and Health Outcomes: New Evidence from Ghana," Economies, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-25, October.
    8. Kilby, Christopher & Dreher, Axel, 2010. "The impact of aid on growth revisited: Do donor motives matter?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 107(3), pages 338-340, June.
    9. Jaison Chireshe & Matthew K. Ocran, 2020. "Health care expenditure and health outcomes in sub‐Saharan African countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(3), pages 349-361, September.
    10. Heer, Burkhard & Rohrbacher, Stefan, 2021. "Endogenous longevity and optimal tax progressivity," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    11. Afees Adebare SALISU* & Fidelis O.OGWUMIKE**, 2010. "Aid-Macroeconomic Policy Environment and Growth:Evidence From Sub-Saharan Africa," Pakistan Journal of Applied Economics, Applied Economics Research Centre, vol. 20, pages 1-12.
    12. Mohanty, Ranjan Kumar & Behera, Deepak Kumar, 2020. "How Effective is Public Health Care Expenditure in Improving Health Outcome? An Empirical Evidence from the Indian States," Working Papers 20/300, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
    13. Seemab Gillani & Muhammad Nouman Shafiq & Tusawar Iftikhar Ahmad, 2019. "Military Expenditures and Health Outcomes: A Global Perspective," iRASD Journal of Economics, International Research Alliance for Sustainable Development (iRASD), vol. 1(1), pages 1-20, June.
    14. ATAKE, Esso - Hanam, 2014. "Financement Public des dépenses de santé et survie infantile au Togo [Public funding of health expenditure and infant survival in Togo]," MPRA Paper 59320, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 26 Oct 2014.
    15. Ahmad, Riayati & Hasan, Junaidah, 2016. "Public Health Expenditure, Governance and Health Outcomes in Malaysia," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 50(1), pages 29-40.
    16. Noshaba Aziz & Jun He & Tanwne Sarker & Hongguang Sui, 2021. "Exploring the Role of Health Expenditure and Maternal Mortality in South Asian Countries: An Approach towards Shaping Better Health Policy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-14, November.
    17. Oduyemi, Gabriel Olusegun & Owoeye, Taiwo & Adekoya, Oluwasegun Babatunde, 2021. "Health outcomes and the resource curse paradox: The experience of African oil-rich countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    18. Devarajan, Shantayanan & Rajkumar, Andrew Sunil & Swaroop, Vinaya, 1999. "What does aid to Africa finance?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2092, The World Bank.
    19. Amanda A. Licht, 2010. "Coming into Money: The Impact of Foreign Aid on Leader Survival," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 54(1), pages 58-87, February.
    20. Devdatta Ray & Mikael Linden, 2020. "Health expenditure, longevity, and child mortality: dynamic panel data approach with global data," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 99-119, March.

    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:spr:hecrev:v:10:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1186_s13561-020-00262-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/13561 .

    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.