Government health expenditure and child health: empirical evidence from Wes
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Date
2023
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Social Economics
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of government health expenditure on the health of
children (under-five mortality rate and prevalence rate of stunting) among West African countries.
Design/methodology/approach –The study utilizes heterogeneous panel from the period 1990 to 2018 among
16 West African countries for the analysis. The effect of government health expenditure on under-five mortality
rate is measured in per 1,000 live births while that of stunting is measured in percentage. The study employs
Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimation technique and Impulse Response Functions (IRFs) for the analysis.
Findings – The results indicate that government health expenditure has negative effect on under-five
mortality rate and prevalence rate of stunting in the long-run but not significant in the short-run. In addition,
the IRFs result indicates that under-five mortality rate and prevalence rate of stunting both respond negatively
to shocks in government health expenditure.
Practical implications – Governments should ensure that inefficiencies in the public health sector are
reduced by licensing the health workers of this sector and allowing independent bodies to appoint the heads of
health institutions. This will improve the delivering of health services for the health of children.
Originality/value – Previous studies carried out have not examined the short-run and long-run effects of the
relationship under study among West African countries
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Government health expenditure, Under-five mortality rate, Prevalence rate of stunting