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For public service or money : understanding geographical imbalances in the health workforce

Author

Listed:
  • Serneels, Pieter
  • Lindelow, Magnus
  • Garcia-Montalvo, Jose
  • Barr, Abigail

Abstract

Geographical imbalances in the health workforce have been a consistent feature of nearly all health systems, especially in developing countries. The authors investigate the willingness to work in a rural area among final year nursing and medical students in Ethiopia. Analyzing data obtained from contingent valuation questions, they find that household consumption and the student's motivation to help the poor, which is their proxy for intrinsic motivation, are the main determinants of willingness to work in a rural area. The authors investigate who are willing to help the poor and find that women are significantly more likely to help than men. Other variables, including a rich set of psycho-social characteristics, are not significant. Finally, the authors carry out some simulations on how much it would cost to make the entire cohort of starting nurses and doctors choose to take up a rural post.

Suggested Citation

  • Serneels, Pieter & Lindelow, Magnus & Garcia-Montalvo, Jose & Barr, Abigail, 2005. "For public service or money : understanding geographical imbalances in the health workforce," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3686, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3686
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Clemens, Michael A., 2009. "Skill Flow: A Fundamental Reconsideration of Skilled-Worker Mobility and Development," MPRA Paper 19186, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Julie Riise Kolstad, 2011. "How to make rural jobs more attractive to health workers. Findings from a discrete choice experiment in Tanzania," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(2), pages 196-211, February.
    3. Serra, Danila & Serneels, Pieter & Barr, Abigail, 2010. "Intrinsic Motivations and the Non-Profit Health Sector: Evidence from Ethiopia," IZA Discussion Papers 4746, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. William Jack & Joose De Laat & Kara Hanson & Agnes Soucat, 2010. "Incentives and Dynamics in the Ethiopian Health Worker Labor Market," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 5951.
    5. Sonja Fagernäs & Panu Pelkonen, 2012. "Preferences and skills of Indian public sector teachers," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-31, December.
    6. Lagarde, Mylène & Blaauw, Duane, 2014. "Pro-social preferences and self-selection into jobs: evidence from South African nurses," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 85229, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Shomikho Raha & Peter Berman & Aarushi Bhatnagar, 2009. "Career Preferences of Medical and Nursing Students in Uttar Pradesh," World Bank Publications - Reports 12836, The World Bank Group.
    8. Robert Dur & Robin Zoutenbier, 2011. "Working for a Good Cause," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 11-168/1, Tinbergen Institute, revised 23 Apr 2013.
    9. Christophe Lemiere & Christopher H. Herbst & Negda Jahanshahi & Ellen Smith & Agnes Soucat, 2011. "Reducing Geographical Imbalances of Health Workers in Sub-Saharan Africa : A Labor Market Perspective on What Works, What Does Not, and Why," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 5919.
    10. Danila Serra & Pieter Serneels & Magnus Lindelow & Jose G. Montalvo, 2010. "Discovering the Real World : Health Workers' Career Choices and Early Work Experience in Ethiopia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 5936.
    11. Berhanu Feysia & Christopher H. Herbst & Wuleta Lemma & Agnes Soucat, 2012. "The Health Workforce in Ethiopia : Addressing the Remaining Challenges," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2226.
    12. Sonja Fagernäs & Panu Pelkonen, 2011. "Whether to Hire Local Contract Teachers? Trade-off Between Skills and Preferences in India," SERC Discussion Papers 0083, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    13. World Bank, 2007. "Ethiopia - Capturing the Demographic Bonus in Ethiopia : Gender, Development, and Demographic Actions," World Bank Publications - Reports 7823, The World Bank Group.
    14. Mikami, Satoru & Furukawa, Mitsuaki, 2016. "Outsourced Technical Cooperation Reconsidered: Agency Problems in the Support of Decentralized Public Service Delivery in Sierra Leone," Working Papers 119, JICA Research Institute.

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