TY - JOUR
T1 - The incidence of public spending on healthcare
T2 - Comparative evidence from Asia
AU - O'Donnell, Owen
AU - van Doorslaer, Eddy
AU - Rannan-Eliya, Ravi P.
AU - Somanathan, Aparnaa
AU - Adhikari, Shiva Raj
AU - Harbianto, Deni
AU - Garg, Charu C.
AU - Hanvoravongchai, Piya
AU - Huq, Mohammed N.
AU - Karan, Anup
AU - Leung, Gabriel M.
AU - Ng, Chiu Wan
AU - Pande, Badri Raj
AU - Tin, Keith
AU - Tisayaticom, Kanjana
AU - Trisnantoro, Laksono
AU - Zhang, Yuhui
AU - Zhao, Yuxin
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - The article compares the incidence of public healthcare across 11 Asian countries and provinces, testing the dominance of healthcare concentration curves against an equal distribution and Lorenz curves and across countries. The analysis reveals that the distribution of public healthcare is prorich in most developing countries. That distribution is avoidable, but a propoor incidence is easier to realize at higher national incomes. The experiences of Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand suggest that increasing the incidence of propoor healthcare requires limiting the use of user fees, or protecting the poor effectively from them, and building a wide network of health facilities. Economic growth may not only relax the government budget constraint on propoor policies but also increase propoor incidence indirectly by raising richer individuals' demand for private sector alternatives.
AB - The article compares the incidence of public healthcare across 11 Asian countries and provinces, testing the dominance of healthcare concentration curves against an equal distribution and Lorenz curves and across countries. The analysis reveals that the distribution of public healthcare is prorich in most developing countries. That distribution is avoidable, but a propoor incidence is easier to realize at higher national incomes. The experiences of Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand suggest that increasing the incidence of propoor healthcare requires limiting the use of user fees, or protecting the poor effectively from them, and building a wide network of health facilities. Economic growth may not only relax the government budget constraint on propoor policies but also increase propoor incidence indirectly by raising richer individuals' demand for private sector alternatives.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33847717966&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/wber/lhl009
DO - 10.1093/wber/lhl009
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33847717966
SN - 0258-6770
VL - 21
SP - 93
EP - 123
JO - World Bank Economic Review
JF - World Bank Economic Review
IS - 1
ER -