IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jsecdv/v26y2024i2d10.1007_s40847-023-00256-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does health insurance affect illness-related absenteeism at the workplace in Ghana?

Author

Listed:
  • Frank Darkwah

    (The University of Adelaide)

Abstract

The paper investigates whether health insurance expansion affects illness-related absenteeism at the workplace among workers in Ghana. The paper employs household- level data from the Ghana Living Standard Survey and applies count data estimation techniques to investigate how health insurance affects the expected time, workers spend out of work, due to illness. The results show that health insurance reduces the extent of illness-related absenteeism at the workplace. The decline in the extent of illness-related absenteeism at the workplace is observed for insured workers in both sectors of the economy, but the reduction is lower in the informal sector than in the formal sector. The reduction is also lower for younger than older workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Frank Darkwah, 2024. "Does health insurance affect illness-related absenteeism at the workplace in Ghana?," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 26(2), pages 555-581, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jsecdv:v:26:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s40847-023-00256-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s40847-023-00256-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40847-023-00256-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40847-023-00256-x?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dizioli, Allan & Pinheiro, Roberto, 2016. "Health insurance as a productive factor," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 1-24.
    2. Lingguo Cheng & Hong Liu & Ye Zhang & Ke Shen & Yi Zeng, 2015. "The Impact of Health Insurance on Health Outcomes and Spending of the Elderly: Evidence from China's New Cooperative Medical Scheme," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(6), pages 672-691, June.
    3. Lo Sasso, Anthony T. & Buchmueller, Thomas C., 2004. "The effect of the state children's health insurance program on health insurance coverage," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 1059-1082, September.
    4. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, April.
    5. Terence C. Cheng & Jing Li & Rhema Vaithianathan, 2019. "Monthly spending dynamics of the elderly following a health shock: Evidence from Singapore," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 23-43, January.
    6. Amy Finkelstein & Sarah Taubman & Bill Wright & Mira Bernstein & Jonathan Gruber & Joseph P. Newhouse & Heidi Allen & Katherine Baicker, 2012. "The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment: Evidence from the First Year," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(3), pages 1057-1106.
    7. Terza, Joseph V. & Basu, Anirban & Rathouz, Paul J., 2008. "Two-stage residual inclusion estimation: Addressing endogeneity in health econometric modeling," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 531-543, May.
    8. Hong Wang & Winnie Yip & Licheng Zhang & William C. Hsiao, 2009. "The impact of rural mutual health care on health status: evaluation of a social experiment in rural China," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(S2), pages 65-82, July.
    9. A. C. Cameron & P. K. Trivedi & Frank Milne & J. Piggott, 1988. "A Microeconometric Model of the Demand for Health Care and Health Insurance in Australia," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 55(1), pages 85-106.
    10. David Card & Carlos Dobkin & Nicole Maestas, 2008. "The Impact of Nearly Universal Insurance Coverage on Health Care Utilization: Evidence from Medicare," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 2242-2258, December.
    11. Xiao Xu & Gail A. Jensen, 2012. "Does health insurance reduce illness-related worker absenteeism?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(35), pages 4591-4603, December.
    12. Grabowski, David C. & Hirth, Richard A., 2003. "Competitive spillovers across non-profit and for-profit nursing homes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 1-22, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Qin, Xuezheng & Pan, Jay & Liu, Gordon G., 2014. "Does participating in health insurance benefit the migrant workers in China? An empirical investigation," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 263-278.
    2. Darkwah, Frank, 2022. "Does free health insurance improve health care use and labour market outcomes of the elderly in Ghana?," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    3. Nshakira-Rukundo, Emmanuel & Mussa, Essa Chanie & Gerber, Nicolas & von Braun, Joachim, 2020. "Impact of voluntary community-based health insurance on child stunting: Evidence from rural Uganda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    4. Lin, Lin & Zai, Xianhua, 2022. "The Power of Public Insurance With Limited Benefits: Evidence from China's New Cooperative Medical Scheme," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1180, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Liu, Hong & Zhao, Zhong, 2014. "Does health insurance matter? Evidence from China’s urban resident basic medical insurance," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 1007-1020.
    6. Feng Huang & Li Gan`, 2017. "The Impacts of China's Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance on Healthcare Expenditures and Health Outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 149-163, February.
    7. Lingguo Cheng & Hong Liu & Ye Zhang & Ke Shen & Yi Zeng, 2015. "The Impact of Health Insurance on Health Outcomes and Spending of the Elderly: Evidence from China's New Cooperative Medical Scheme," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(6), pages 672-691, June.
    8. repec:dem:wpaper:wp-2022-025 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Hankyung Jun & Emma Aguila, 2021. "Private Insurance and Mental Health among Older Adults with Multiple Chronic Conditions: A Longitudinal Analysis by Race and Ethnicity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-15, March.
    10. Zhang, Yan & Zhao, Guangchuan & Gu, Hai, 2022. "Investing in health capital: Does medical insurance matter?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    11. PAN, Jay & QIN, Xuezheng & LIU, Gordon G., 2013. "The impact of body size on urban employment: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 249-263.
    12. Miyawaki, Atsushi & Noguchi, Haruko & Kobayashi, Yasuki, 2017. "Impact of medical subsidy disqualification on children's healthcare utilization: A difference-in-differences analysis from Japan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 89-98.
    13. Giampiero Marra & Rosalba Radice & David M. Zimmer, 2020. "Estimating the binary endogenous effect of insurance on doctor visits by copula‐based regression additive models," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 69(4), pages 953-971, August.
    14. Ji Yan & Sally Brocksen, 2013. "Adolescent risk perception, substance use, and educational attainment," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(8), pages 1037-1055, September.
    15. Charles Courtemanche & James Marton & Benjamin Ukert & Aaron Yelowitz & Daniela Zapata, 2018. "Early Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Health Care Access, Risky Health Behaviors, and Self‐Assessed Health," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 84(3), pages 660-691, January.
    16. Tesfaye, Wondimagegn & Tirivayi, Nyasha, 2020. "Crop diversity, household welfare and consumption smoothing under risk: Evidence from rural Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    17. Meyer, Sophie-Charlotte, 2016. "Maternal employment and childhood overweight in Germany," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 84-102.
    18. Trottmann, Maria & Zweifel, Peter & Beck, Konstantin, 2012. "Supply-side and demand-side cost sharing in deregulated social health insurance: Which is more effective?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 231-242.
    19. Jun Li & Serguei Netessine & Sergei Koulayev, 2018. "Price to Compete … with Many: How to Identify Price Competition in High-Dimensional Space," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(9), pages 4118-4136, September.
    20. Wechsler, Seth J. & McFadden, Jonathan R. & Smith, David J., 2016. "Into the Weeds: A Structural Model of Herbicide Demand and Glyphosate Resistance on U.S. Corn Farms," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235998, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    21. Baicker, Katherine & Chernew, Michael E. & Robbins, Jacob A., 2013. "The spillover effects of Medicare managed care: Medicare Advantage and hospital utilization," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 1289-1300.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health insurance; Health; Illness-related absenteeism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J46 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Informal Labor Market

    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:spr:jsecdv:v:26:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s40847-023-00256-x. 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 .

    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.