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Subsidized Health Care and Food Security: Evidence from Colombia

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  • Camilo Bohorquez-Penuela

    (Banco de la República de Colombia)

Abstract

In 1993, the Colombian Government created a subsidized health care regime (SR) in order to increase coverage among the poorest population. Using data from the 2008 and 2012 Colombian Living Standards Survey, I estimate the association between SR participation and household food insecurity. Enrollment into the SR is not exogenous due to self-selection from potentially eligible households, discretionary municipalitylevel policies that affect eligibility, and manipulation of the assignment process for electoral purposes. Therefore, I use the proportion of lifetime the household head has resided in the current municipality as an instrumental variable. Taking the uninsured population as the comparison group, the two-stage least squares regression estimates reveal that participation in the SR is associated with a reduction of the probability of being food insecure, principally in rural areas. This result is robust to different specifications and, moreover, prevails after implementing an imperfect instrumental variables approach **** RESUMEN: En 1993, el gobierno colombiano creó un régimen de salud subsidiada (RS) con el objetivo de mejorar la cobertura de salud sobre la población más pobre y vulnerable. Usando datos de la Encuesta de Calidad de Vida (ECV) para los años 2008 y 2012, estimo la asociación entre la participación en el RS y la seguridad alimentaria de los hogares colombianos. El proceso de enrolamiento en el RS no es exógeno, porque se encuentra sujeto a auto-selección por parte de los hogares potencialmente elegibles, políticas discrecionales por parte de los municipios con respecto a la focalización del programa, y la manipulación del puntaje que determina la asignación por parte de políticos locales debido a motivos electorales. Por lo tanto, uso la proporción del tiempo de vida que el jefe de hogar lleva residiendo en el municipio como variable instrumental. Tomando la población no asegurada como el grupo de control, las estimaciones por medio de mínimos cuadrados en dos etapas muestran que la participación en el RS está positivamente correlacionada con una reducción en la inseguridad alimentaria de los hogares colombianos, principalmente en áreas rurales. Este resultado es robusto a varias especificaciones econométricas y, más aún, después de implementar una metodología para instrumentos imperfectos.

Suggested Citation

  • Camilo Bohorquez-Penuela, 2020. "Subsidized Health Care and Food Security: Evidence from Colombia," Borradores de Economia 1103, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdr:borrec:1103
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.32468/be.1103
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Colombia; food security; public health care; Colombia; salud pública; seguridad alimentaria;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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