The seminar is set for Friday February 12 at 3pm in G214 of the Newman (Arts/Commerce) Building, UCD.
Abstract
Despite the obvious importance to policymakers and the growing evidence on the costs and benefits of health programmes at micro-level, there is relatively little research evidence on the health impact of public sector decisions on levels and distribution of health funding at macro-level. We exploit the existence of a funding formula in use in England which differentially allocates resources on the basis of a range of factors to estimate the effect of variations in health funding between populations on their health outcomes. Since funding is endogenous to health outcomes, we use the non-health factors in this formula as instruments for health funding. We undertake the analysis using a range of health measures, units of analysis and time periods. When corrected for endogeneity, we find that public sector health funding is consistently associated with lower morbidity and mortality, especially where this is amenable to health care intervention, and not associated with the birth rate (an anti-test). We find elasticities in the range 0.5-1.0 suggesting that population health is quite sensitive to funding decisions and that it should be possible to re-allocate funding to reduce geographical inequalities in health.
Regards,
Professor David Madden (Head of School, 2009-2012),
School of Economics,
University College Dublin,
Abstract
Despite the obvious importance to policymakers and the growing evidence on the costs and benefits of health programmes at micro-level, there is relatively little research evidence on the health impact of public sector decisions on levels and distribution of health funding at macro-level. We exploit the existence of a funding formula in use in England which differentially allocates resources on the basis of a range of factors to estimate the effect of variations in health funding between populations on their health outcomes. Since funding is endogenous to health outcomes, we use the non-health factors in this formula as instruments for health funding. We undertake the analysis using a range of health measures, units of analysis and time periods. When corrected for endogeneity, we find that public sector health funding is consistently associated with lower morbidity and mortality, especially where this is amenable to health care intervention, and not associated with the birth rate (an anti-test). We find elasticities in the range 0.5-1.0 suggesting that population health is quite sensitive to funding decisions and that it should be possible to re-allocate funding to reduce geographical inequalities in health.
Regards,
Professor David Madden (Head of School, 2009-2012),
School of Economics,
University College Dublin,
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