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Public Health Expenditure and Child Mortality: Does Institutional Quality Matter?

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  • Abdelhafidh Dhrifi

    (University of Sousse-Tunisia)

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to test the impact of public health spending on infant health taking into account the role that institutional quality can play. We use a two-step system dynamic GMM method for 93 developed and developing countries over the1995–2015 period. Our main findings show that there is a clear positive and significant effect of health expenditure on infant mortality only for high-income countries, whereas for lower, lower-middle, and upper-middle-income ones, health spending does not have a significant impact on infant health status. Our findings show also that there is a certain threshold level that these groups must achieve to make government health spending (% GDP) positively affect infant mortality rates. This level is estimated at about 7%. Finally, estimations demonstrate also that institutional quality plays an important and significant role in mediating the relationship between health spending and IMR’s.

Suggested Citation

  • Abdelhafidh Dhrifi, 2020. "Public Health Expenditure and Child Mortality: Does Institutional Quality Matter?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(2), pages 692-706, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:11:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s13132-018-0567-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s13132-018-0567-4
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    Cited by:

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    2. Bernadette O'Hare & Steve G. Hall, 2022. "The Impact of Government Revenue on the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Amplification Potential of Good Governance," Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, vol. 14(2), pages 109-129, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health expenditure; Infant mortality; Institutional quality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth

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