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Is it reasonable to subsidize healthcare in Developing Nations? A question purely from the growth perspective

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  • Chaudhuri, Sarbajit

Abstract

The paper purports to examine the rationale in subsidizing healthcare in the developing economies solely from the standpoint of economic growth with the help of a three-sector, full-employment small economy model with exogenous labour market imperfection and a non-traded sector providing healthcare services. Consumption of healthcare services emanates positive externalities and raises the efficiency of workers. There is provision for providing public subsidy on the consumption of health services. The analysis finds that the socially optimal consumption subsidy on health is not necessarily positive and crucially hinges on factors like degree of labour market imperfection, quality of services provided by the healthcare sector and its production technology. These results lead to a few important policy implications in the context of the developing countries. Finally, this analysis provides a theoretical justification why the magnitude of public spending on healthcare services is significantly lower in the developing countries vis-à-vis the developed nations.

Suggested Citation

  • Chaudhuri, Sarbajit, 2015. "Is it reasonable to subsidize healthcare in Developing Nations? A question purely from the growth perspective," MPRA Paper 64052, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:64052
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sharmistha Self & Richard Grabowski, 2003. "How effective is public health expenditure in improving overall health? A cross-country analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(7), pages 835-845.
    2. Musgrove, Philip, 1999. "Public spending on health care: how are different criteria related?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 207-223, May.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumption externality; healthcare; efficiency of labour; health subsidy; social welfare; developing countries; general equilibrium;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D58 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Computable and Other Applied General Equilibrium Models
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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