Institutional quality and public healthcare

Abstract

This paper attempts to empirically identify the impact of institutional quality on the effectiveness of public healthcare mechanisms around the world. The percentage of out-of-pocket expenditure from total health expenditure is taken as a proxy – the higher this percentage, the more people seem to rely on private institutions, implying lower effectiveness of government facilities. Panel data regression analysis is undertaken for 173 countries over the period 2002-2018. Smaller datasets are used for analyzing the BRICS and South Asian economies. Results highlight the positive effect of institutional quality, and reaffirm the expected positive impact of government expenditure on healthcare quality.

Keywords

• institutional quality
• public healthcare
• panel data regression analysis
• medical institutions
• government expenditure