IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/idb/wpaper/4606.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

A Moving Target: Universal Access to Healthcare Services in Latin America and the Caribbean

Author

Listed:
  • William Savedoff

Abstract

Healthcare services are more widespread in Latin America and the Caribbean today than 50 years ago, yet this availability is not necessarily reflected in popular perceptions. This study documents the expansion of healthcare services in the Region in terms of medically-trained professionals, service utilization, and insurance eligibility. It finds that people in countries with more doctors have a more positive view of access to healthcare and greater confidence in the healthcare system. However, other factors intervene in this relationship between perceptions and objective indicators, such as the strength of local social networks and wealth. As a consequence of rising expectations, differential access and continuing discontent, public policy can be driven by factors that are least likely to improve the population's health.

Suggested Citation

  • William Savedoff, 2009. "A Moving Target: Universal Access to Healthcare Services in Latin America and the Caribbean," Research Department Publications 4606, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    • Handle: RePEc:idb:wpaper:4606
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.iadb.org/research/pub_hits.cfm?pub_id=WP-662&pub_file_name=pubWP-662.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2004. "Well-being over time in Britain and the USA," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1359-1386, July.
    2. Thomas Piketty, 1995. "Social Mobility and Redistributive Politics," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(3), pages 551-584.
    3. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," NBER Chapters, in: Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment, pages 1-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. repec:bla:econom:v:72:y:2005:i:3:p:531-547 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Gaviria, Alejandro & Pages, Carmen, 2002. "Patterns of crime victimization in Latin American cities," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 181-203, February.
    6. Robert J. MacCulloch & Rafael Di Tella & Andrew J. Oswald, 2001. "Preferences over Inflation and Unemployment: Evidence from Surveys of Happiness," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 335-341, March.
    7. Clark, Andrew E & Oswald, Andrew J, 1994. "Unhappiness and Unemployment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(424), pages 648-659, May.
    8. Martin Ravallion & Michael Lokshin, 2001. "Identifying Welfare Effects from Subjective Questions," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 68(271), pages 335-357, August.
    9. Rosen, Sherwin, 1988. "The Value of Changes in Life Expectancy," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 285-304, September.
    10. Nattavudh Powdthavee, 2005. "Unhappiness and Crime: Evidence from South Africa," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 72(287), pages 531-547, August.
    11. Alex Michalos & Bruno Zumbo, 2000. "Criminal Victimization and the Quality of Life," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 245-295, June.
    12. Soares, Rodrigo R., 2006. "The welfare cost of violence across countries," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 821-846, September.
    13. Fajnzylber, Pablo & Lederman, Daniel & Loayza, Norman, 2002. "Inequality and Violent Crime," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 45(1), pages 1-40, April.
    14. Liliana Winkelmann & Rainer Winkelmann, 1998. "Why Are the Unemployed So Unhappy?Evidence from Panel Data," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 65(257), pages 1-15, February.
    15. Easterlin, Richard A, 2001. "Income and Happiness: Towards an Unified Theory," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 111(473), pages 465-484, July.
    16. Ludwig, Jens & Cook, Philip J, 2001. "The Benefits of Reducing Gun Violence: Evidence from Contingent-Valuation Survey Data," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 207-226, May.
    17. Alejandro Gaviria Uribe & Carlos Eduardo Vélez, 2001. "Who Bears the Burden of Crime in Colombia," Informes de Investigación 3776, Fedesarrollo.
    18. Juan Luis Londoño & Rodrigo Guerrero & Bernard Couttolene & Ignácio Cano & Leandro Piquet Carneiro & Luciana Phebo & Mauricio Rubio & José Miguel Cruz & Luis Armando González & Luis Ernesto Romano & E, 2000. "Asalto al desarrollo: Violencia en América Latina," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 43498 edited by Juan Luis Londoño & Alejandro Gaviria & Rodrigo Guerrero, February.
    19. Steven D. Levitt, 1999. "The changing relationship between income and crime victimization," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 5(Sep), pages 87-98.
    20. repec:bla:econom:v:68:y:2001:i:271:p:335-57 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Bereket Yakob & Busisiwe Purity Ncama, 2016. "Correlates of perceived access and implications for health system strengthening – lessons from HIV/AIDS treatment and care services in Ethiopia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-19, August.
    2. Vélez, Jorge, 2011. "e-Health in Colombia: regulations, applications and challenges," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 35329, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    3. Rojas, Misael, 2011. "Information and communication technologies in health care: enabling projects and applications in Chile," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 35328, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    4. Martinez-Gutierrez, María Soledad & Cuadrado, Cristóbal, 2017. "Health policy in the concertación era (1990–2010): Reforms the chilean way," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 117-126.
    5. Vega, Silvio, 2011. "The National Telemedicine and Telehealth Programme in Panama," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 35334, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    6. -, 2011. "e-Health in Latin America and the Caribbean: progress and challenges," Libros y Documentos Institucionales, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 3001 edited by Eclac.
    7. Gertrudiz, Nancy, 2011. "e-Health policies, programmes and projects in Mexico," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 35333, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    8. Coury, Wilson & Filho, J. L. Ribeiro & Haddad, Ana Estela & Kelton, M.C. & Messina, Luiz Ari & Simões, Nelson, 2011. "Telehealth initiatives in Brazil," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 35327, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    9. Fernández, Andrés & Oviedo, Enrique, 2010. "Information and communication technologies in the health sector: opportunities and challenges for the reduction of inequalities in Latin America and the Caribbean," Políticas Sociales 6178, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    10. Carnicero, Javier, 2011. "The e-Health experience in Spain: lessons for Latin America and the Caribbean," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 35339, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    11. Oliveri, Nora, 2011. "Background information and e-Health applications in Argentina," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 35326, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    12. Mijares Pisano, María Teresa, 2011. "e-Health development potentialities in Ecuador," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 35331, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    13. -, 2011. "Potentials of e-Health in the social and epidemiological context of Latin America and the Caribbean," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 35325, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    14. Sandor, Tomás, 2011. "Public health information systems in the Caribbean," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 35338, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    15. Siddique Latif & Junaid Qadir & Shahzad Farooq & Muhammad Ali Imran, 2017. "How 5G Wireless (and Concomitant Technologies) Will Revolutionize Healthcare?," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-24, December.
    16. Cortés, Jaime, 2011. "Costa Rica's Telesalud programme: experiences and challenges," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 35330, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    17. Silva, Ricardo, 2011. "Technological projects for e-Health in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 35337, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    18. Vero, Alvaro & Clastornik, José & Ferreira, Alicia & Forcella, Jorge & Margolis, Alvaro, 2011. "e-Health in Uruguay: development and challenges," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 35336, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    19. Curioso, Walter H., 2011. "e-Health in Peru: an emerging issue," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 35335, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).

    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. Di Tella, Rafael & MacCulloch, Robert & Ñopo, Hugo R., 2008. "Happiness and Beliefs in Criminal Environments," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 1489, Inter-American Development Bank.
    2. Iddisah Sulemana, 2015. "The Effect of Fear of Crime and Crime Victimization on Subjective Well-Being in Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 849-872, April.
    3. Nattavudh Powdthavee, 2005. "Unhappiness and Crime: Evidence from South Africa," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 72(287), pages 531-547, August.
    4. Di Tella, Rafael & MacCulloch, Robert, 2008. "Gross national happiness as an answer to the Easterlin Paradox?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 22-42, April.
    5. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
    6. Carlos Medina & Jorge Andrés Tamayo, 2011. "An Assessment of How Urban Crime and Victimization Affects Life Satisfaction," Borradores de Economia 640, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    7. Popova, Olga, 2014. "Can religion insure against aggregate shocks to happiness? The case of transition countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 804-818.
    8. Masanori Kuroki, 2013. "Crime Victimization and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Happiness Data," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 783-794, June.
    9. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2004. "Well-being over time in Britain and the USA," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1359-1386, July.
    10. Bonsang, Eric & Klein, Tobias J., 2012. "Retirement and subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 83(3), pages 311-329.
    11. Verme, Paolo, 2009. "Happiness, freedom and control," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 146-161, August.
    12. Frijters, Paul & Beatton, Tony, 2012. "The mystery of the U-shaped relationship between happiness and age," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 525-542.
    13. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2004. "Money, Sex and Happiness: An Empirical Study," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 106(3), pages 393-415, October.
    14. Carlos Medina & Christian Posso & Jorge Andrés Tamayo, 2011. "Costos de la violencia urbana y políticas públicas: algunas lecciones de Medellín," Borradores de Economia 9076, Banco de la Republica.
    15. Douhou, Salima & Van Soest, Arthur, 2013. "Explaining subjective well-being: The role of victimization, trust, health, and social norms," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 52-78.
    16. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2008. "Is well-being U-shaped over the life cycle?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1733-1749, April.
    17. Andrew E. Clark, 2018. "Four Decades of the Economics of Happiness: Where Next?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(2), pages 245-269, June.
    18. Petri Böckerman & Pekka Ilmakunnas, 2006. "Elusive Effects of Unemployment on Happiness," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 79(1), pages 159-169, October.
    19. Lelkes, Orsolya, 2006. "Tasting freedom: Happiness, religion and economic transition," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 173-194, February.
    20. O'Donnell, Gus & Oswald, Andrew J., 2015. "National well-being policy and a weighted approach to human feelings," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 59-70.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health Care; Health Financing; Access; Happiness; Health Policy; Latin America; Caribbean;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • N96 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Latin America; Caribbean

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:idb:wpaper:4606. 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: Felipe Herrera Library (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iadbbus.html .

    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.