蝌蚪网 Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
Does Abolishing User Fees Lead to Improved Health Status? Evidence from Post-apartheid South Africa
蝌蚪网 Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 6,
no. 3, August 2014
(pp. 282–312)
Abstract
Whether user fees for health services should be charged or abolished for the poor has recently been debated. This study examines the impact on child health status of removing user fees in South Africa. Our main innovation is to exploit plausibly exogenous variation in access to free health care, due to the fact that black Africans under apartheid could exercise little political power and residential choice. We find substantial improvements in weight-for-age z-scores among ex ante similar children. Falsification exercises confirm no preexisting trend in the pre-reform period or no treatment effect among noneligible children in the post-reform period.Citation
Tanaka, Shinsuke. 2014. "Does Abolishing User Fees Lead to Improved Health Status? Evidence from Post-apartheid South Africa." 蝌蚪网 Journal: Economic Policy 6 (3): 282–312. DOI: 10.1257/pol.6.3.282Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H51 National Government Expenditures and Health
- I12 Health Production
- I18 Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
- I38 Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
- O17 Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements