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Remittances, Public Health Spending and Foreign Aid in the Access to Health Care Services in Developing Countries

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  • Alassane DRABO
  • Christian EBEKE

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the respective impacts of remittances, health aid and public spending on the access to health care services in developing countries. The specific objectives are threefold. Firstly, we quantify the differential impacts of remittances on the access to public and private health care services. Secondly, we determine whether remittances and foreign health aid are complements or substitutes in the access to health care services. Lastly, we evaluate the heterogeneity of the impact of remittances in the access to public and private health care services by quintile of income. We provide a rigorous econometric analysis by controlling for the endogeneity of remittances, public spending and foreign aid. We find that remittances, health aid and public spending are important determinants of access to health services in recipients’ countries. Another interesting result comes from the fact that, remittances lead to a sectorial glide in the uses of health care services from the public to the private sector for the intermediate income class. This result holds also for the richer quintiles that are the major recipients of remittances in developing countries. Moreover, remittances and foreign health aid are complements for the access to health care services in “low” income countries. Finally, these results suggest that policies aiming at increasing remittances are appropriate for developing countries but also that, the “optimal” therapy for the “low” income countries is the combination of remittances and foreign aid.

Suggested Citation

  • Alassane DRABO & Christian EBEKE, 2010. "Remittances, Public Health Spending and Foreign Aid in the Access to Health Care Services in Developing Countries," Working Papers 201004, CERDI.
  • Handle: RePEc:cdi:wpaper:1125
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    2. Jean-Michel Lafleur & Olivier Lizin, 2014. "Transnational Health Insurance Schemes: A New Avenue for Congolese Immigrants in Belgium to Care for Their Relatives' Health from Abroad?," Working Papers 15-01d, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Migration and Development..
    3. Christian Hubert Ebeke, 2011. "Do Remittances Lead to a Public Moral Hazard in Developing Countries? An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(8), pages 1009-1025, May.
    4. Patrick Guillaumont & Laurent Wagner, 2014. "Aid Effectiveness for Poverty Reduction: Lessons from Cross‑country Analyses, with a Special Focus on Vulnerable Countries," Revue d’économie du développement, De Boeck Université, vol. 22(HS01), pages 217-261.
    5. Courage Mlambo & Forget Kapingura, 2020. "Remittances and Economic Development: Evidence from SADC Countries?," Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance, Eurasian Publications, vol. 8(4), pages 261-273.
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    7. Chauvet, Lisa & Ehrhart, Hélène, 2018. "Aid and growth: evidence from firm-level data," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 461-477.
    8. Cephas Naanwaab & Osei Agyeman Yeboah, 2013. "Migrant remittances and human capital investments," Review of Applied Socio-Economic Research, Pro Global Science Association, vol. 6(2), pages 191-202, December.
    9. Sophia C. Terrelonge, 2014. "For Health, Strength, and Daily Food: The Dual Impact of Remittances and Public Health Expenditure on Household Health Spending and Child Health Outcomes," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(10), pages 1397-1410, November.
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    Keywords

    Remittances; Health aid; Public spending; Access to health care services; Developing countries; Instrumental variables method;
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