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Financial incentives for return of service in underserved areas: a systematic review

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  • Till Bärnighausen

    (Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal)

  • David E. Bloom

Abstract

In many geographical regions, both in developing and in developed countries, the number of health workers is insufficient to achieve population health goals. Financial incentives for return of service are intended to alleviate health worker shortages: A (future) health worker enters into a contract to work for a number of years in an underserved area in exchange for a financial pay-off. The authors of this paper carried out a systematic literature search of PubMed for studies evaluating outcomes of financial-incentive programs published between 1957 and 2007.

Suggested Citation

  • Till Bärnighausen & David E. Bloom, 2008. "Financial incentives for return of service in underserved areas: a systematic review," PGDA Working Papers 3608, Program on the Global Demography of Aging.
    • Handle: RePEc:gdm:wpaper:3608
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bolduc, Denis & Fortin, Bernard & Fournier, Marc-Andre, 1996. "The Effect of Incentive Policies on the Practice Location of Doctors: A Multinomial Probit Analysis," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(4), pages 703-732, October.
    2. Bärnighausen, Till & Bloom, David E., 2009. ""Conditional scholarships" for HIV/AIDS health workers: Educating and retaining the workforce to provide antiretroviral treatment in sub-Saharan Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 544-551, February.
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    6. Nigenda, Gustavo, 1997. "The regional distribution of doctors in Mexico, 1930-1990: a policy assessment," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 107-122, February.
    7. George M. Holmes, 2004. "Does the National Health Service Corps Improve Physician Supply in Underserved Locations?," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 30(4), pages 563-581, Fall.
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    Cited by:

    1. McGrail, Matthew R. & Humphreys, John S. & Joyce, Catherine M. & Scott, Anthony, 2012. "International medical graduates mandated to practise in rural Australia are highly unsatisfied: Results from a national survey of doctors," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(2), pages 133-139.
    2. Mandeville, Kate L. & Hanson, Kara & Muula, Adamson S. & Dzowela, Titha & Ulaya, Godwin & Lagarde, Mylène, 2017. "Specialty training for the retention of Malawian doctors: A cost-effectiveness analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 87-95.
    3. Till Bärnighausen & David E. Bloom & Salal Humair, 2008. "Estimating health worker need to provide antiretroviral treatment in the developing world," PGDA Working Papers 3808, Program on the Global Demography of Aging.
    4. Scott, Anthony & Witt, Julia & Humphreys, John & Joyce, Catherine & Kalb, Guyonne & Jeon, Sung-Hee & McGrail, Matthew, 2013. "Getting doctors into the bush: General Practitioners' preferences for rural location," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 33-44.
    5. Priscylia Maria Sandehang & Rr Tutik Sri Hariyati, 2017. "Mapping a Career Ladder as an Initial Step in the Retention of Nurses," International Journal of Health and Medical Sciences, Mohammad A. H. Khan, vol. 3(2), pages 43-49.
    6. Anell, Anders & Dackehag, Margareta & Dietrichson, Jens & Ellegård, Lina Maria & Kjellsson, Gustav, 2022. "Better Off by Risk Adjustment? Socioeconomic Disparities in Care Utilization in Sweden Following a Payment Reform," Working Papers 2022:15, Lund University, Department of Economics, revised 12 Mar 2024.
    7. Till Bärnighausen & David E. Bloom & Salal Humair, 2009. "A Mathematical Model for Estimating the Number of Health Workers Required for Universal Antiretroviral Treatment," PGDA Working Papers 5209, Program on the Global Demography of Aging.
    8. Michel Grignon & Yaw Owusu & Arthur Sweetman, 2013. "The international migration of health professionals," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 4, pages 75-97, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Johns, Benjamin & Steinhardt, Laura & Walker, Damian G. & Peters, David H. & Bishai, David, 2013. "Horizontal equity and efficiency at primary health care facilities in rural Afghanistan: A seemingly unrelated regression approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 25-31.
    10. Li, Jinhu & Scott, Anthony & McGrail, Matthew & Humphreys, John & Witt, Julia, 2014. "Retaining rural doctors: Doctors' preferences for rural medical workforce incentives," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 56-64.
    11. Feder-Bubis, Paula & Bin-Nun, Gabi & Zarhin, Dana & Sherf, Michael & Heiman-Neuman, Nitza, 2023. "Residents' choice of a placement in periphery hospitals in Israel: The significance of personal/family and professional considerations," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    12. Jonas Minet Kinge & Jostein Grytten, 2021. "The impact of primary care physician density on perinatal health: Evidence from a natural experiment," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(12), pages 2974-2994, December.
    13. Matsumoto, Masatoshi & Inoue, Kazuo & Kajii, Eiji, 2010. "Policy implications of a financial incentive programme to retain a physician workforce in underserved Japanese rural areas," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(4), pages 667-671, August.
    14. Burcay Erus & Ayca Bilir, 2015. "Obligatory service requirement and physician specialist distribution in Turke," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(1), pages 441-451.
    15. Huh, Jason, 2021. "Medicaid and provider supply," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    16. Siegel, Martin & Koller, Daniela & Vogt, Verena & Sundmacher, Leonie, 2016. "Developing a composite index of spatial accessibility across different health care sectors: A German example," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(2), pages 205-212.
    17. Halah Ibrahim & Fatema Zain Al Sharif & Karthyayani Priya Satish & Lina Hassen & Satish Chandrasekhar Nair, 2019. "Should I stay or should I go now? The impact of “pull” factors on physician decisions to remain in a destination country," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 1909-1920, October.
    18. Holte, Jon Helgheim & Kjaer, Trine & Abelsen, Birgit & Olsen, Jan Abel, 2015. "The impact of pecuniary and non-pecuniary incentives for attracting young doctors to rural general practice," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 1-9.
    19. Till Bärnighausen & David E. Bloom, 2008. "Designing financial-incentive programmes for return of medical service in underserved areas of sub-Saharan Africa," PGDA Working Papers 3708, Program on the Global Demography of Aging.
    20. Luiz Felipe Campos Fontes & Otavio Canozzi Conceição & Paulo de Andrade Jacinto, 2018. "Evaluating the impact of physicians' provision on primary healthcare: Evidence from Brazil's More Doctors Program," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(8), pages 1284-1299, August.
    21. Till Bärnighausen & David E. Bloom, 2009. "Changing Research Perspectives on the Global Health Workforce," NBER Working Papers 15168, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    Keywords

    Disease; control; global health; financial-incentive programs.;
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