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Does health insurance affect illness-related absenteeism at the workplace in Ghana?

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  • Frank Darkwah

    (The University of Adelaide)

Abstract

The paper investigates whether health insurance expansion affects illness-related absenteeism at the workplace among workers in Ghana. The paper employs household- level data from the Ghana Living Standard Survey and applies count data estimation techniques to investigate how health insurance affects the expected time, workers spend out of work, due to illness. The results show that health insurance reduces the extent of illness-related absenteeism at the workplace. The decline in the extent of illness-related absenteeism at the workplace is observed for insured workers in both sectors of the economy, but the reduction is lower in the informal sector than in the formal sector. The reduction is also lower for younger than older workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Frank Darkwah, 2024. "Does health insurance affect illness-related absenteeism at the workplace in Ghana?," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 26(2), pages 555-581, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jsecdv:v:26:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s40847-023-00256-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s40847-023-00256-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health insurance; Health; Illness-related absenteeism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J46 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Informal Labor Market

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