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The effectiveness of government expenditure on education and health care in the Caribbean

Author

Listed:
  • Roland Craigwell
  • Danielle Bynoe
  • Shane Lowe

Abstract

Purpose - Investment in human development is considered a means of improving the quality of life and sustaining economic growth in the Caribbean. The purpose of this paper is to assess the efficacy of public spending on health care and education by evaluating the life expectancy and school enrolment rates of these countries. Design/methodology/approach - Using a data set containing 19 Caribbean countries over the period 1995 to 2007 for health care and 1980 to 2009 for education, a Panel Ordinary Least Squares model was employed. Findings - The results revealed that health expenditure has a significant positive effect on health status, while spending on education has no appreciable influence on either primary or secondary school enrolment. Originality/value - Unlike previous Caribbean research, the paper explores a variable for quality in the education system, that is, the pupil‐teacher ratio. It also seeks to update the existing Caribbean literature by employing data from 1980 to 2009.

Suggested Citation

  • Roland Craigwell & Danielle Bynoe & Shane Lowe, 2012. "The effectiveness of government expenditure on education and health care in the Caribbean," International Journal of Development Issues, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(1), pages 4-18, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:ijdipp:v:11:y:2012:i:1:p:4-18
    DOI: 10.1108/14468951211213831
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    2. Ahmad, Riayati & Hasan, Junaidah, 2016. "Public Health Expenditure, Governance and Health Outcomes in Malaysia," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 50(1), pages 29-40.
    3. Marc Audi & Amjad Ali, 2023. "The Role of Environmental Conditions and Purchasing Power Parity in Determining Quality of Life among Big Asian Cities," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(3), pages 292-305, May.
    4. Adesoji O. Farayibi & Oludele Folarin, 2020. "Does Government Education Expenditure Affect Educational Outcomes? New Evidence from Sub-Sahara African Countries," Research Africa Network Working Papers 21/048, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    5. Fahim Fahim & Noor Jehan & Salma Khan, 2019. "Regional Inequalities, Childhood Socioeconomic Conditions and Adult Life Outcomes 9dash9 Evidence from Pakistan," Global Regional Review, Humanity Only, vol. 4(4), pages 290-298, December.
    6. Carl Grekou & Romain Perez, 2014. "Child Mortality in sub-Saharan Africa: Why Public Health Spending Matters," Working Papers hal-04141334, HAL.
    7. Carl Grekou & Romain Perez, 2014. "Child Mortality in sub-Saharan Africa: Why Public Health Spending Matters," EconomiX Working Papers 2014-28, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    8. Arora, Nitin & Talwar, Shubhendra Jit, 2020. "Modelling efficiency in budget allocations for Indian states using window based non-radial non-concave metafrontier data envelopment analysis," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    9. Adesoji Oladapo Farayibi & Oludele Folarin, 2021. "Does government education expenditure affect educational outcomes? New evidence from sub‐Saharan African countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 33(3), pages 546-559, September.
    10. Khalid Zaman & Bashir Khilji, 2014. "A note on pro-poor social expenditures," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 2121-2154, July.
    11. Doddy Ismunandar Bahari & Hermanto Siregar & Sahara Sahara & Handewi Purwati Saliem Rachman, 2019. "Impact of Agricultural Sectors and Income Inequality in Rural Toward Role of Public Education in Decreasing Educational Inequality in Indonesia," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 9(1), pages 151-159.
    12. Adesoji O. Farayibi & Oludele Folarin, 2021. "Does Government Education Expenditure Affect Educational Outcomes? New Evidence from Sub-Sahara African Countries," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 21/048, African Governance and Development Institute..
    13. Minhas Akbar & Ammar Hussain & Ahsan Akbar & Irfan Ullah, 2021. "The dynamic association between healthcare spending, CO2 emissions, and human development index in OECD countries: evidence from panel VAR model," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 10470-10489, July.
    14. Adesoji O. Farayibi & Oludele Folarin, 2021. "Does Government Education Expenditure Affect Educational Outcomes? New Evidence from Sub-Sahara African Countries," Working Papers 21/048, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    15. Olawunmi Omitogun & Farouq Adekunle Akanni & Adedayo Emmanuel Longe & longeemmanuel28@gmail.com, 2019. "Disaggregated Government Expenditure and Education Enrolment in Nigeria," Business & Management Compass, University of Economics Varna, issue 4, pages 309-326.
    16. Kajenthini Ganeshamoorthy, 2023. "Does Quality of Government Matter in Public Health? The Case of Sri Lanka," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(6), pages 127-137, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Caribbean; Government policy; Public finance; Public spending; Education; Health care; Panel OLS;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I00 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General - - - General

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