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The Demand for Medical Care in Urban China

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  • Mocan, H. Naci
  • Tekin, Erdal
  • Zax, Jeffrey S.

Abstract

This is the first paper to investigate the determinants of the demand for medical care in the People's Republic of China. It uses a data set that consists of detailed characteristics of 6407 urban households, a continuous measure of health care spending, and price. A two-part model and a discrete factor model are used in the estimation. Household characteristics and work conditions impact the demand for medical care. Income elasticity is around 0.3, indicating medical care is a necessity. Medical care demand is price inelastic, and price elasticity is larger in absolute value for poorer households.

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Article provided by Elsevier in its journal World Development.

Volume (Year): 32 (2004)
Issue (Month): 2 (February)
Pages: 289-304

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Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:32:y:2004:i:2:p:289-304
Contact details of provider: Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
  • O52 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Europe

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Cited by:

  1. Jiale Zhang, 2007. "A DID analysis of the impact of health insurance reform in the city of Hangzhou," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(12), pages 1389-1402.
  2. H. Naci Mocan & Erdal Tekin, 2003. "Guns, Drugs and Juvenile Crime: Evidence from a Panel of Siblings and Twins," NBER Working Papers 9824, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  3. Supon Limwattananon & Sven Neelsen & Owen O'Donnell & Phusit Prakongsai & Viroj Tangcharoensathien & Eddy van Doorslaer & Vuthiphan Vongmongkol, 2013. "Universal Coverage on a Budget: Impacts on Health Care Utilization and Out-Of-Pocket Expenditures in Thailand," CESifo Working Paper Series 4262, CESifo Group Munich.
  4. H. Naci Mocan & Erdal Tekin & Jeffrey S. Zax, 2000. "The Demand for Medical Care in Urban China," NBER Working Papers 7673, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  5. Máximo Rossi & Patricia Triunfo, 2004. "Gastar en Cuidados Médicos: ¿Es un Lujo para los Montevideanos?," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 0604, Department of Economics - dECON.
  6. Ravi P. Rannan-Eliya & Aparnaa Somanathan & Shiva Raj Adhikari & Eddy van Doorslaer & Owen O’ Donnell, 2011. "Who Pays for Health Care in Asia?," Working Papers id:3608, eSocialSciences.
    • O'Donnell, Owen & van Doorslaer, Eddy & Rannan-Eliya, Ravi P. & Somanathan, Aparnaa & Adhikari, Shiva Raj & Akkazieva, Baktygul & Harbianto, Deni & Garg, Charu C. & Hanvoravongchai, Piya & Herrin, Ale, 2008. "Who pays for health care in Asia?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 460-475, March.
  7. Máximo Rossi & Patricia Triunfo, 2004. "El Estado de Salud del Adulto Mayor en Uruguay," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 1404, Department of Economics - dECON.
  8. Óscar D. Lourenço & Pedro L. Ferreira, 2005. "Utilization of public health centres in Portugal: effect of time costs and other determinants. Finite mixture models applied to truncated samples," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(9), pages 939-953.
  9. Christelle Grobler & Ian c. Stuart, 2007. "Health Care Provider Choice," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 75(2), pages 327-350, 06.
  10. Danyliv, Andriy & Groot, Wim & Gryga, Irena & Pavlova, Milena, 2014. "Willingness and ability to pay for physician services in six Central and Eastern European countries," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 72-82.
  11. Martine Audibert & Yong He & Jacky Mathonnat, 2013. "Two-Period Comparison of Healthcare Demand with Income Growth and Population Aging in Rural China: Implications for Adjustment of the Healthcare Supply and Development," Working Papers halshs-00846088, HAL.
  12. Okeke, Edward N. & Adepiti, Clement A. & Ajenifuja, Kayode O., 2013. "What is the price of prevention? New evidence from a field experiment," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 207-218.
  13. Anning Hu, 2014. "The Health Benefits of College Education in Urban China: Selection Bias and Heterogeneity," Social Indicators Research- An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(3), pages 1101-1121, February.
  14. Chau-kiu Cheung & Raymond Chan & Wing-chung Ho, 2014. "Feeling Close to Fellow Citizens in Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand," Social Indicators Research- An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 119(1), pages 25-48, October.
  15. Jianmei Zhao & Hai Zhong, 2015. "Medical expenditure in urban China: a quantile regression analysis," International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 387-406, December.
  16. Chunhuei Chi & Jwo-Leun Lee & Shu-Ling Tsai & Wen-Yi Chen, 2008. "Out-of-pocket payment for medical care under Taiwan's National Health Insurance system," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(8), pages 961-975.

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