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Fiscal federalism and income redistribution through healthcare financing: An empirical analysis for the Swiss cantons

Author

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  • Luca Crivelli

    (Department of Economics, Università della Svizzera Italiana, Switzerland)

  • Paola Salari

    (Department of Economics, Università della Svizzera Italiana, Switzerland)

Abstract

Previous studies have viewed Swiss health-care financing as particularly regressive. However, as the OECD Review of the Swiss Health System (2011) stated, the income-related inequities and the inter cantonal variations are still unexplored due to a lack of available information. The present paper aims to fill this information gap concerning the Swiss health system by exploring the differences in the level of regressivity of health-care system financing across cantons and over time using household data. The empirical evidence confirms that the Swiss health-care system financing has remained quite regressive since the major reform of 1996 and that the variations in equity across cantons are quite significant. The results are an interesting contribution towards re-thinking a new possible reform of the Swiss health-care system, as well as for other federal states (such as the U.S.) that use regulation and subsidies to ensure universal coverage.

Suggested Citation

  • Luca Crivelli & Paola Salari, 2012. "Fiscal federalism and income redistribution through healthcare financing: An empirical analysis for the Swiss cantons," CEPRA working paper 1204, USI Università della Svizzera italiana.
    • Handle: RePEc:lug:wcepra:1204
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    Cited by:

    1. Rosella Levaggi & Francesco Menoncin, 2014. "Health care expenditure decisions in the presence of devolution and equalisation grants," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 355-368, December.
    2. Rosella Levaggi & Francesco Menoncin, 2017. "Would less regional income distribution justify the present call for devolution?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 24(5), pages 780-799, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Equity; health care system financing; fiscal federalism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health

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