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Health supplier quality and the distribution of child health

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  • Propper, Carol
  • Rigg, John A.
  • Burgess, Simon

Abstract

There is emerging evidence to suggest that initial differentials between the health of poor and more affluent children in the UK do not widen over early childhood. One reason may be that through the universal public funded health care system all children have access to equally effective primary care providers. This paper examines this explanation. The analysis has two components. It first examines whether children from poorer families have access to general practitioners of a similar quality to children from richer families. It then examines whether the quality of primary care to which a child has access has an impact on their health at birth and on their health during early childhood. The results suggest that children from poor families do not have access to markedly worse quality primary care, and further, that the quality of primary care does not appear to have a large effect on differentials in child health in early childhood. Written with the ALSPAC study team.

Suggested Citation

  • Propper, Carol & Rigg, John A. & Burgess, Simon, 2005. "Health supplier quality and the distribution of child health," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 6252, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:6252
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/6252/
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Simon Burgess & Carol Propper & John A. Rigg, 2004. "The Impact of Low Income on Child Health: Evidence from a Birth Cohort Study," CASE Papers 085, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
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    3. Janet Currie & Mark Stabile, 2003. "Socioeconomic Status and Child Health: Why Is the Relationship Stronger for Older Children?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1813-1823, December.
    4. Currie, Alison & Shields, Michael A. & Wheatley Price, Stephen, 2004. "Is the Child Health / Family Income Gradient Universal? Evidence from England," IZA Discussion Papers 1328, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Carol Propper & Deborah Wilson, 2003. "The Use and Usefulness of Performance Measures in the Public Sector," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 19(2), pages 250-267, Summer.
    6. Shi, L. & Starfield, B., 2001. "The effect of primary care physician supply and income inequality on mortality among Blacks and Whites in US metropolitan areas," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 91(8), pages 1246-1250.
    7. Anne Case & Darren Lubotsky & Christina Paxson, 2002. "Economic Status and Health in Childhood: The Origins of the Gradient," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1308-1334, December.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    primary care quality; child health;

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

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