Dear Colleagues
Attached paper in latest issue of European Journal of Political Economy, which may be of interest to some of you
David McDaid
LSE Health and Social Care
European Journal of Political Economy Vol 18 Iss 4
The effectiveness of government spending on education and health care in developing and transition economies
S. Gupta, M. Verhoeven, E.R. Tiongson
pp 717-737
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=GatewayURL&_origin=CONTENTS&_method=citationSearch&_piikey=S0176268002001167&_version=1&md5=daa53db527e20e978ea051c754fc1f67
Abstract
Recent studies show that corruption is associated with higher military spending [Eur. J. Polit. Econ. 17 (2001) 794] and lower government spending on education and health care [J. Publ. Econ. 69 (1998) 263]. This suggests that policies aimed at reducing corruption may lead to changes in the composition of government outlays toward more productive spending. However, little empirical evidence has been presented to support the claim that public spending improves education and health indicators in developing and transition countries. This paper uses cross-sectional data for 50 such countries to show that increased public expenditure on education and health care is associated with improvements in both access to and attainment in schools, and reduces mortality rates for infants and children. The education regressions are robust to different specifications, but the relationship between health care spending and mortality rates is weaker.
Author Keywords: Public expenditure; Primary and secondary education; Primary health care; Intrasectoral spending composition; Social indicators
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