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Learning (or Not) in Health-Seeking Behavior: Evidence from Rural Tanzania

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  • Lucia Corno

Abstract

The aim of this article is to understand the functioning of individuals' health-seeking behavior. It studies, theoretically and empirically, whether individuals change health care providers over time, depending on the health outcome (i.e., healed or sick) after consultation with the previous caregiver. Results show that the previous health outcome plays a crucial role in shifting individual preferences to a particular type of medical care. I find that patients who healed after seeking health care are more likely to seek care again in the future. Furthermore, conditional on seeking care, individuals are more likely to return to formal (informal) health providers with whom they have experienced a previous history of cures and switch away from formal (informal) caregivers with whom they had a negative outcome. I interpret these results as learning about clinicians' quality over time. The effects are tested using 4-year panel data from a household survey in Tanzania.

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  • Lucia Corno, 2014. "Learning (or Not) in Health-Seeking Behavior: Evidence from Rural Tanzania," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(1), pages 27-72.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/677724
    DOI: 10.1086/677724
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    Cited by:

    1. Eduardo Fe & Timothy Powell‐Jackson & Winnie Yip, 2017. "Doctor Competence and the Demand for Healthcare: Evidence from Rural China," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(10), pages 1177-1190, October.
    2. Tushar Bharati & Adnan M. S. Fakir, 2022. "Health Costs of a “Healthy Democracy”: The Impact of Peaceful Political Protests on Healthcare Utilization," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 22-15, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.

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