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Heterogeneity of the Effects of Health Insurance on Household Savings: Evidence from Rural China

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  • Cheung, Diana
  • Padieu, Ysaline

Abstract

We estimate the impact of the New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) on household savings by income quartiles in rural China. We control for endogenous NCMS participation with an instrumental variable strategy using the China Health and Nutrition survey. We find that NCMS has a negative impact on middle-income savings but does not affect the poorest participants. NCMS also decreases richest participants’ savings, when they do not benefit from other health programs. Thus, the implementation of a health care scheme appears to be an appropriate tool to lower savings and boost consumption and so sustain economic growth.

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  • Cheung, Diana & Padieu, Ysaline, 2015. "Heterogeneity of the Effects of Health Insurance on Household Savings: Evidence from Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 84-103.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:66:y:2015:i:c:p:84-103
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.08.004
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    2. Jessica Ya Sun, 2020. "Welfare consequences of access to health insurance for rural households: Evidence from the New Cooperative Medical Scheme in China," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(3), pages 337-352, March.
    3. Yating Dai & Jian Cheng & Daolin Zhu, 2022. "Understanding the Impact of Land Supply Structure on Low Consumption: Empirical Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, April.
    4. Diana Cheung & Jean-Pierre Laffargue & Ysaline Padieu, 2016. "Insurance of Household Risks and the Rebalancing of the Chinese Economy: Health Insurance, Health Expenses and Household Savings," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 381-412, August.
    5. Zeng, Miao & Du, Jiang & Zhu, Xiaoyu & Deng, Xin, 2023. "Does internet use drive rural household savings? Evidence from 7825 farmer households in rural China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    6. Chen, Xiaofen, 2018. "Why do migrant households consume so little?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 197-209.
    7. Wang, Yijie & Shi, Julie & Yao, Yi & Sun, Wenkai, 2022. "The impact of health insurance on job location choice: Evidence from rural China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 569-583.
    8. Gelo, Dambala, 2020. "Forest commons, vertical integration and smallholder’s saving and investment responses: Evidence from a quasi-experiment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    9. Baozhong Su & Gatwaza Hategekimana Thierry & Qihui Chen & Qiran Zhao, 2017. "The New Cooperative Medical Scheme and Self-Employment in Rural China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-10, February.
    10. Cancheng Hong & Di He & Ting Ren, 2023. "The Impact of Commercial Medical Insurance Participation on Household Debt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-17, January.
    11. Chen, Hua & Ding, Yugang & Tang, Lin & Wang, Lizhen, 2022. "Impact of urban–rural medical insurance integration on consumption: Evidence from rural China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 837-851.
    12. Si Shi & Yawen Jiang, 2022. "Does supplemental private health insurance incentivize household risky financial asset investment? Evidence from the China Household Financial Survey," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 369-421, December.
    13. Chen, Yi & Shi, Julie & Zhuang, Castiel Chen, 2019. "Income-dependent impacts of health insurance on medical expenditures: Theory and evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 290-310.

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