IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/hecrev/v8y2018i1d10.1186_s13561-018-0214-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does happiness matter to health system efficiency? A performance analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Kok Fong See

    (Universiti Sains Malaysia
    National Taiwan University)

  • Siew Hwa Yen

    (Universiti Sains Malaysia)

Abstract

Background The main objective of this study is to assess the performance of the global health system, emphasising the contribution of people’s happiness to health system efficiency across countries. Technical efficiency (TE) scores are estimated using the output-oriented variable returns to scale (VRS) data envelopment analysis (DEA) model based on the input measures: health expenditure, labour, hospital beds and education, and the output measures: healthy life expectancy and inverse mortality index. The efficiency scores are regressed against three explanatory variables: happiness index, population density, and healthcare share of gross domestic product (GDP). The analysis involved 121 selected countries using double bootstrap DEA as proposed by Simar, L., Wilson, P.W J Econ 136:1‑34, 2007. Results The bootstrap truncated regression indicates that happiness is one of the factors that contributes significantly to health system efficiency. The study also revealed that the selected health systems perform well, on average, in terms of population density and healthcare share of GDP. Conclusions In addition to improving the economic standard of living, policy-makers should also consider ways to increase the happiness and well-being of society. Policies focusing on well-being and happiness can lead to improved well-being and improved health outcomes, which may ultimately reduce the healthcare burden and enhance healthcare performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Kok Fong See & Siew Hwa Yen, 2018. "Does happiness matter to health system efficiency? A performance analysis," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:hecrev:v:8:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1186_s13561-018-0214-6
    DOI: 10.1186/s13561-018-0214-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s13561-018-0214-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1186/s13561-018-0214-6?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. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve & Ed Diener & Louis Tay & Cody Xuereb, 2013. "The Objective Benefits of Subjective Well-Being," CEP Discussion Papers dp1236, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    2. S. Grosskopf & S. Self & O. Zaim, 2006. "Estimating the efficiency of the system of healthcare financing in achieving better health," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(13), pages 1477-1488.
    3. William Greene, 2004. "Distinguishing between heterogeneity and inefficiency: stochastic frontier analysis of the World Health Organization's panel data on national health care systems," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(10), pages 959-980, October.
    4. Panagiotis Mitropoulos & Kostas Kounetas & Ioannis Mitropoulos, 2016. "Factors affecting primary health care centers’ economic and production efficiency," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 247(2), pages 807-822, December.
    5. Marianela Carrillo & Jesús M. Jorge, 2017. "DEA-Like Efficiency Ranking of Regional Health Systems in Spain," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 133(3), pages 1133-1149, September.
    6. Yasar A. Ozcan, 2014. "Evaluation of Performance in Health Care," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: Health Care Benchmarking and Performance Evaluation, edition 2, chapter 0, pages 3-14, Springer.
    7. Retzlaff-Roberts, Donna & Chang, Cyril F. & Rubin, Rose M., 2004. "Technical efficiency in the use of health care resources: a comparison of OECD countries," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 55-72, July.
    8. Jean Spinks & Bruce Hollingsworth, 2009. "Cross-country comparisons of technical efficiency of health production: a demonstration of pitfalls," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(4), pages 417-427.
    9. Yasar A. Ozcan, 2014. "Health Care Benchmarking and Performance Evaluation," International Series in Operations Research and Management Science, Springer, edition 2, number 978-1-4899-7472-3, December.
    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. Kundu, Srikanta & Kundu, Ruma & Chettri, Kul Bahadur, 2024. "Asymmetric effects of democracy and macroeconomic factors on happiness under high and low per capita incomes: A threshold panel analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    2. Adabavazeh, Nazila & Nikbakht, Mehrdad & Tirkolaee, Erfan Babaee, 2023. "Identifying and prioritizing resilient health system units to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    3. Rose Nabi Deborah Karimi Muthuri & Flavia Senkubuge & Charles Hongoro, 2020. "Determinants of happiness among healthcare professionals between 2009 and 2019: a systematic review," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-14, December.
    4. Viera Ivanková & Rastislav Kotulič & Jaroslav Gonos & Martin Rigelský, 2019. "Health Care Financing Systems and Their Effectiveness: An Empirical Study of OECD Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-22, October.
    5. Puertas, Rosa & Marti, Luisa & Guaita-Martinez, José M., 2020. "Innovation, lifestyle, policy and socioeconomic factors: An analysis of European quality of life," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).

    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. Ozbugday, Fatih Cemil & Tirgil, Abdullah & Kose, Elif Gul, 2020. "Efficiency changes in long-term care in OECD countries: A non-parametric Malmquist Index approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    2. Angelo Castaldo & Maria Alessandra Antonelli & Valeria De Bonis & Giorgia Marini, 2020. "Determinants of health sector efficiency: evidence from a two-step analysis on 30 OECD countries," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(2), pages 1651-1666.
    3. Constantin Ogloblin, 2023. "Health care financing and productivity of health care in OECD countries: a stochastic frontier analysis," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 13(2), pages 259-283, June.
    4. Pınar Kaya Samut & Reyhan Cafrı, 2016. "Analysis of the Efficiency Determinants of Health Systems in OECD Countries by DEA and Panel Tobit," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(1), pages 113-132, October.
    5. Varabyova, Yauheniya & Müller, Julia-Maria, 2016. "The efficiency of health care production in OECD countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cross-country comparisons," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(3), pages 252-263.
    6. Bonasia, Mariangela & Kounetas, Konstantinos & Oreste, Napolitano, 2020. "Assessment of regional productive performance of European health systems under a metatechnology framework," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 234-248.
    7. Rajendra Dulal, 2018. "Technical efficiency of nursing homes: do five-star quality ratings matter?," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 393-400, September.
    8. Yasar A. Ozcan & Jaya Khushalani, 2017. "Assessing efficiency of public health and medical care provision in OECD countries after a decade of reform," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 25(2), pages 325-343, June.
    9. Varabyova, Yauheniya & Schreyögg, Jonas, 2013. "International comparisons of the technical efficiency of the hospital sector: Panel data analysis of OECD countries using parametric and non-parametric approaches," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 70-79.
    10. Mustapha D. Ibrahim & Sahand Daneshvar & Mevhibe B. Hocaoğlu & Olasehinde-Williams G. Oluseye, 2019. "An Estimation of the Efficiency and Productivity of Healthcare Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: Health-Centred Millennium Development Goal-Based Evidence," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 371-389, May.
    11. Kristína Kočišová & Jakub Sopko, 2020. "The Efficiency of Public Health and Medical Care Systems in EU Countries: Dynamic Network Data Envelopment Analysis," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 68(2), pages 383-394.
    12. Anton Sorin Gabriel, 2013. "Technical Efficiency in the Use of Health Care Resources: A Cross-Country Analysis," Scientific Annals of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 60(1), pages 1-12, July.
    13. Andreas Behr & Katja Theune, 2017. "Health System Efficiency: A Fragmented Picture Based on OECD Data," PharmacoEconomics - Open, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 203-221, September.
    14. Sepideh Abolghasem & Mehdi Toloo & Santiago Amézquita, 2019. "Cross-efficiency evaluation in the presence of flexible measures with an application to healthcare systems," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 512-533, September.
    15. Sebastian Kohl & Jan Schoenfelder & Andreas Fügener & Jens O. Brunner, 2019. "The use of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in healthcare with a focus on hospitals," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 245-286, June.
    16. Sommersguter-Reichmann, Margit & Stepan, Adolf, 2015. "The interplay between regulation and efficiency: Evidence from the Austrian hospital inpatient sector," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 10-21.
    17. Pablo Cos & Enrique Moral-Benito, 2014. "Determinants of health-system efficiency: evidence from OECD countries," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 69-93, March.
    18. Diogo Cunha Ferreira & Alexandre Morais Nunes & Rui Cunha Marques, 2020. "Operational efficiency vs clinical safety, care appropriateness, timeliness, and access to health care," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 355-375, June.
    19. Ferreira, D.C. & Marques, R.C., 2019. "Do quality and access to hospital services impact on their technical efficiency?," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 218-236.
    20. Sergio Orlando Antoun Netto & Marcos Pereira Estellita Lins, 2014. "Homogeneous Clustering of Brazilian Municipalities Based on Structuring Health Care through Concept Maps," Research in Applied Economics, Macrothink Institute, vol. 6(4), pages 40-52, December.

    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:8:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1186_s13561-018-0214-6. 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.