IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/chy/respap/183chedp.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Convergence of health care spending and health outcomes in the EUropean Union, 1960-95

Author

Listed:
  • John Nixon

Abstract

Convergence in health expenditure in the countries of the European Union (EU) has been demonstrated to be occurring in previous studies. The aim of this paper is to identify and discuss the reasons for this finding and to present new evidence confirming convergence in health outcomes, as represented by life expectancy and infant mortality rates. The statistical methods used, s and b-convergence analysis, are well established in macro-economic growth analyses and based on the neo-classical growth model which predicts convergence in income for homogenous countries such as those forming the EU. The analyses reveal a common trend in that Southern Mediterranean countries have generally exhibited upward convergence towards the mean in health expenditure, and convergence towards the EU mean in improving directions for health outcomes. In contrast, EU countries of the North, particularly those of Scandinavia, exhibit downward convergence towards the EU mean or below it in health expenditure, whilst their health outcome measures have generally been displaying a decreasing advantage over the EU mean over the periods of analysis. The results are briefly considered in relation to the factors that help to explain the results, including the question of whether a causal relationship between health expenditure and health outcomes exists, the nature and impact of health care reforms throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s in countries contributing most to the observed convergence, and the predictions of the neoclassical growth model which underpin the results.

Suggested Citation

  • John Nixon, 2000. "Convergence of health care spending and health outcomes in the EUropean Union, 1960-95," Working Papers 183chedp, Centre for Health Economics, University of York.
    • Handle: RePEc:chy:respap:183chedp
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.york.ac.uk/media/che/documents/papers/discussionpapers/CHE%20Discussion%20Paper%20183.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2000
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Nixon, "undated". "Convergence Analysis of Health Care Expenditure in the EU Countries Using Two Approaches," Discussion Papers 99/3, Department of Economics, University of York.
    2. Sala-i-Martin, Xavier X., 1996. "Regional cohesion: Evidence and theories of regional growth and convergence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 1325-1352, June.
    3. Barro, Robert J & Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, 1992. "Convergence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(2), pages 223-251, April.
      • Barro, R.J. & Sala-I-Martin, X., 1991. "Convergence," Papers 645, Yale - Economic Growth Center.
      • Barro, Robert J. & Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, 1992. "Convergence," Scholarly Articles 3451299, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    4. Quah, D., 1990. "Galton'S Fallacy And The Tests Of The Convergence Hypothesis," Working papers 552, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Economics.
    5. Bernard, Andrew B. & Durlauf, Steven N., 1996. "Interpreting tests of the convergence hypothesis," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1-2), pages 161-173.
    6. Erich Streissler, 1979. "Growth Models As Diffusion Processes," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1‐2), pages 251-269, February.
    7. Boyle, G E & McCarthy, T G, 1997. "A Simple Measure of Beta-Convergence," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 59(2), pages 257-264, May.
    8. Joseph P. Newhouse, 1977. "Medical-Care Expenditure: A Cross-National Survey," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 12(1), pages 115-125.
    9. Robert J. Barro & Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 1991. "Convergence across States and Regions," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 22(1), pages 107-182.
    10. Streissler, Erich, 1979. "Growth Models as Diffusion Processes," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1/2), pages 251-269.
    11. Pierre‐Yves Crémieux & Pierre Ouellette & Caroline Pilon, 1999. "Health care spending as determinants of health outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 8(7), pages 627-639, November.
    12. Erich Streissler, 1979. "Growth Models As Diffusion Processes:," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 571-586, August.
    13. Jeffrey D. Sachs & Andrew Warner, 1995. "Economic Reform and the Process of Global Integration," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 26(1, 25th A), pages 1-118.
    14. Theo Hitiris, 1997. "Health care expenditure and integration in the countries of the European Union," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 1-6.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Andrea Leiter & Engelbert Theurl, 2012. "The convergence of health care financing structures: empirical evidence from OECD-countries," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 13(1), pages 7-18, February.
    2. Jay Pan & Peng Wang & Xuezheng Qin & Shufang Zhang, 2013. "Disparity and Convergence: Chinese Provincial Government Health Expenditures," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(8), pages 1-6, August.
    3. Christopoulos, Konstantinos & Eleftheriou, Konstantinos, 2020. "Premature mortality in the US: A convergence study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    4. Lau, Marco Chi Keung & Fung, Ka Wai Terence, 2013. "Convergence in Health Care Expenditure of 14 EU Countries: New Evidence from Non-linear Panel Unit Root Test," MPRA Paper 52871, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. José Villaverde & Adolfo Maza & María Hierro, 2014. "Health care expenditure disparities in the European Union and underlying factors: a distribution dynamics approach," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 251-268, September.
    6. Fanny Janssen & Anthe van den Hende & Joop de Beer & Leo van Wissen, 2016. "Sigma and beta convergence in regional mortality: A case study of the Netherlands," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 35(4), pages 81-116.
    7. Wen-Yi Chen, 2013. "Does healthcare financing converge? Evidence from eight OECD countries," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 279-300, December.
    8. Clemente, Jesús & Lázaro-Alquézar, Angelina & Montañés, Antonio, 2019. "US state health expenditure convergence: A revisited analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 210-220.
    9. Ekaterini Panopoulou & Theologos Pantelidis, 2013. "Cross‐State Disparities In Us Health Care Expenditures," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(4), pages 451-465, April.
    10. Lena Maleševic Perovic & Silvia Golem & Maja Mihaljevic Kosor, 2016. "Convergence in Government Spending Components in EU15: A Spatial Econometric Perspective," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 18(42), pages 240-240, May.
    11. André, Christine, 2015. "Les systèmes de santé européens en longue période," Revue de la Régulation - Capitalisme, institutions, pouvoirs, Association Recherche et Régulation, vol. 17.
    12. Reibling, Nadine, 2013. "The international performance of healthcare systems in population health: Capabilities of pooled cross-sectional time series methods," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 122-132.
    13. Chi Lau & Ka Fung & Lee Pugalis, 2014. "Is health care expenditure across Europe converging? Findings from the application of a nonlinear panel unit root test," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 4(2), pages 137-156, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John Nixon, "undated". "Convergence Analysis of Health Care Expenditure in the EU Countries Using Two Approaches," Discussion Papers 99/3, Department of Economics, University of York.
    2. Tiia P¸ss & Mare Viies & Reet Maldre, 2007. "Convergence Analysis of the Structure of Tax Revenue and Tax Burden in EU," Working Papers 166, Tallinn School of Economics and Business Administration, Tallinn University of Technology.
    3. Ana Lamo, 2000. "On convergence empirics: same evidence for Spanish regions," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 24(3), pages 681-707, September.
    4. Durlauf, Steven N. & Quah, Danny T., 1999. "The new empirics of economic growth," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & M. Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 4, pages 235-308, Elsevier.
    5. Cem Ertur & Julie Le Gallo & Catherine Baumont, 2006. "The European Regional Convergence Process, 1980-1995: Do Spatial Regimes and Spatial Dependence Matter?," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 29(1), pages 3-34, January.
    6. Clemente, Jesús & Lázaro-Alquézar, Angelina & Montañés, Antonio, 2019. "US state health expenditure convergence: A revisited analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 210-220.
    7. Burcu Ozcan, 2014. "Does Income Converge among EU Member Countries following the Post-War Period? Evidence from the PANKPSS Test," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(3), pages 22-38, October.
    8. James Proudman & Stephen Redding & Marco Bianchi, 1997. "Is International Openness associated with faster economic growth?," Bank of England working papers 63, Bank of England.
    9. Theo Hitiris & John Nixon, 2001. "Convergence of health care expenditure in the EU countries," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(4), pages 223-228.
    10. Heshmati, Almas, 2004. "Growth, Inequality and Poverty Relationships," IZA Discussion Papers 1338, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Rosanna Nisticò & Antonella Rita Ferrara, 2011. "Indicatori Di Benessere E Convergenza Tra Le Regioni: Un’Applicazione Al Caso Italiano," Working Papers 201113, Università della Calabria, Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza "Giovanni Anania" - DESF.
    12. Fallahi, Firouz, 2011. "Convergence of Total Health Expenditure as a Share of GDP: Evidence from Selected OECD Countries," MPRA Paper 51324, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Michelacci, Claudio & Zaffaroni, Paolo, 2000. "(Fractional) beta convergence," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 129-153, February.
    14. Massimiliano Affinito, 2011. "Convergence clubs, the euro-area rank and the relationship between banking and real convergence," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 809, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    15. Leone Leonida & Leone Leonida & Daniel Montolio, 2003. "Public Capital, Growth and Convergence in Spain. A Counterfactual Density Estimation Approach," Working Papers 2003/3, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    16. Panagiotis KOUDOUMAKIS & George BOTZORIS & Angelos PROTOPAPAS, 2021. "The Contribution Of Cohesion Policy To The Development And Convergence Of The Regions Of The European Union," Regional Science Inquiry, Hellenic Association of Regional Scientists, vol. 0(2), pages 277-290, June.
    17. Vicente Esteve & Simon Sosvilla-Rivero & Cecilio Tamarit, 2000. "Convergence in fiscal pressure across EU countries," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 117-123.
    18. Pei-Chien Lin & Ho-Chuan Huang, 2012. "Convergence in income inequality? evidence from panel unit root tests with structural breaks," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 153-174, August.
    19. Fousekis, Panos, 2007. "Convergence of Relative State-level Per Capita Incomes in the United States Revisited," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 37(2), pages 1-10.
    20. Cheong, Tsun Se & Wu, Yanrui, 2018. "Convergence and transitional dynamics of China's industrial output: A county-level study using a new framework of distribution dynamics analysis," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 125-138.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:chy:respap:183chedp. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Gill Forder (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/chyoruk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.