IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/rrpaxx/v17y2012i1p1-32.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Decentralization Matter in Health Outcomes? Evidence from 22 OECD Unbalanced Panel Data for 1995–2005

Author

Listed:
  • Youngju Kang
  • Wonhyuk Cho
  • Kwangho Jung

Abstract

Recently, scholars and practitioners around the globe have started to view decentralization as an integral part of broader health reforms. Nevertheless, the literature on decentralization has tended toward case studies and theoretical discussions rather than rigorous empirical analysis, and few quantitative studies have explored the practical consequences of decentralization of health service delivery. This study attempts to address this issue by exploring the impact of decentralization on health outcomes with a panel dataset of 22 countries from 1990 to 2005. Our findings indicate healthcare decentralization is nonlinearly beneficial to improve the health of a population. The effect of decentralization on population health remains positive within a certain threshold, but becomes negative beyond the transition point. Considering the institutional background of healthcare, the institutional setting of reliance on market mechanisms in service provision and on private insurance for basic coverage is a precondition for decentralization reform to further create a positive impact.

Suggested Citation

  • Youngju Kang & Wonhyuk Cho & Kwangho Jung, 2012. "Does Decentralization Matter in Health Outcomes? Evidence from 22 OECD Unbalanced Panel Data for 1995–2005," International Review of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 1-32, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rrpaxx:v:17:y:2012:i:1:p:1-32
    DOI: 10.1080/12264431.2012.10805215
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/12264431.2012.10805215
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/12264431.2012.10805215?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. Nadir Habibi & Cindy Huang & Diego Miranda & Victoria Murillo & Gustav Ranis & Mainak Sarkar & Frances Stewart, 2001. "Decentralization in Argentina," Working Papers 825, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    2. Ulrich Thießen, 2003. "Fiscal Decentralisation and Economic Growth in High-Income OECD Countries," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 24(3), pages 237-274, September.
    3. Huther, Jeff & Shah, Anwar, 1998. "Applying a simple measure of good governance to the debate on fiscal decentralization," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1894, The World Bank.
    4. Ulrich Thießen, 2000. "Fiscal Federalism in Western European and Selected Other Countries: Centralization or Decentralization? What Is Better for Economic Growth?," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 224, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    5. Khaleghian, Peyvand, 2004. "Decentralization and public services: the case of immunization," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 163-183, July.
    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. Antonio José Orozco-Gallo, 2017. "Un análisis del gasto público en salud de los entes territoriales colombianos," Chapters, in: Jaime Bonet & Karelys Guzmán-Finol & Lucas Wilfried Hahn-De-Castro (ed.), La salud en Colombia: una perspectiva regional, chapter 10, pages 315-364, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.

    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. Fritz Breuss & Markus Eller, 2004. "The Optimal Decentralisation of Government Activity: Normative Recommendations for the European Constitution," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 27-76, March.
    2. Alexeev, Michael (Алексеев, Майкл) & Mamedov, Arseny (Мамедов, Арсений) & Fomina, Evgenia (Фомина, Евгения) & Deryugin, Alexander (Дерюгин, Александр), 2017. "Influence of the Main Characteristics of Interbudgetary Relations on the Indicators of Economic Development of the Subjects of the Russian Federation [Влияние Основных Характеристик Межбюджетных От," Working Papers 031717, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
    3. Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & McNab, Robert M., 2003. "Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(9), pages 1597-1616, September.
    4. Aristovnik, Aleksander, 2012. "Fiscal decentralization in Eastern Europe: a twenty-year perspective," MPRA Paper 39316, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Whitney Buser, 2011. "The impact of fiscal decentralization on economics performance in high-income OECD nations: an institutional approach," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 31-48, October.
    6. Thushyanthan Baskaran & Lars P. Feld & Jan Schnellenbach, 2016. "Fiscal Federalism, Decentralization, And Economic Growth: A Meta-Analysis," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(3), pages 1445-1463, July.
    7. repec:ces:ifodic:v:2:y:2004:i:1:p:14567690 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Lars P. Feld & Gebhard Kirchgässner & Christoph A. Schaltegger, 2004. "Fiscal Federalism and Economic Performance: Evidence from Swiss Cantons," Marburg Working Papers on Economics 200420, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    9. Lars P. Feld & Horst Zimmermann & Thomas Döring, 2004. "Federalism, Decentralization, and Economic Growth," Marburg Working Papers on Economics 200430, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    10. repec:ces:ifodic:v:2:y:2004:i:1:p:14567688 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Lóránd, Balázs & Horváth, Gyula, 2012. "Decentralizáció és gazdasági fejlődés. Az olasz példa [Decentralization and economic development. The case of Italy]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(12), pages 1273-1298.
    12. Jorge Martínez Vázquez & Robert M. McNab, 2006. "Fiscal decentralization, macrostability and growth," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 179(4), pages 25-49, September.
    13. Anwar Shah & Theresa Thompson & Heng-fu Zou, 2004. "Decentralising the public sector: The Impact of Decentralisation on Service Delivery, Corruption, Fiscal Management and Growth in Developing and Emerging Market Economies: A Synthesis of Empirical Evi," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 2(1), pages 10-14, October.
    14. Mitchell, Austin M. & Yin, Weiwen, 2022. "Political centralization, career incentives, and local economic growth in Edo Japan," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    15. Anwar Shah & Theresa Thompson & Heng-fu Zou, 2004. "Decentralising the public sector: The Impact of Decentralisation on Service Delivery, Corruption, Fiscal Management and Growth in Developing and Emerging Market Economies: A Synthesis of Empirical Evi," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 2(01), pages 10-14, October.
    16. Ramiro Gil-Serrate & Julio López-Laborda, "undated". "Modelling Tax Decentralisation And Regional Growth," Working Papers 14-05 Classification-JEL , Instituto de Estudios Fiscales.
    17. Septimiu-Rares SZABO, 2017. "The Empirical Relationship Between Fiscal Decentralization And Economic Growth: A Review Of Variables, Models And Results," Management Research and Practice, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 9(2), pages 47-66, June.
    18. Maria EL KHDARI & Babacar SARR, 2018. "Decentralization, spending efficiency and pro-poor outcomes in Morocco," Working Papers 201805, CERDI.
    19. Joan Rosselló Villalonga, 2018. "Fiscal centralization: a remedy for corruption?," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 457-474, November.
    20. Sanz Labrador, Ismael & Sanz-Sanz, José Félix, 2013. "Política fiscal y crecimiento económico: consideraciones microeconómicas y relaciones macroeconómicas," Macroeconomía del Desarrollo 5367, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    21. Eggert, Wolfgang & Sørensen, Peter Birch, 2008. "The effects of tax competition when politicians create rents to buy political support," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(5-6), pages 1142-1163, June.
    22. Hanes, Niklas, 2003. "Empirical Studies in Local Public Finance: Spillovers, Amalgamations, and Tactical Redistribution," Umeå Economic Studies 604, Umeå University, Department of Economics.

    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:taf:rrpaxx:v:17:y:2012:i:1:p:1-32. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RRPA20 .

    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.