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. 2015 Aug;7(3):29-57.
doi: 10.1257/pol.20120262.

Returns to Treatment in the Formal Health Care Sector: Evidence from Tanzania

Achyuta Adhvaryu  1 , Anant Nyshadham  2
Affiliations

Returns to Treatment in the Formal Health Care Sector: Evidence from Tanzania

Achyuta Adhvaryu et al. Am Econ J Econ Policy. 2015 Aug.

Abstract

Improving access to the formal health care sector is a primary public health goal in many low-income countries. But the returns to this access are unclear, given that the quality of care at public health facilities is often considered inadequate. We exploit temporal and geographic variation in the cost of traveling to formal sector health facilities to show that treatment at these facilities improves short-term health outcomes for acutely ill children in Tanzania. Our results suggest that these improvements are driven in part by more timely receipt of and better adherence to antimalarial treatment.

Keywords: Africa; adherence; child health; health care.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Price increase induces rightward shift in cutoff value
Figure 2
Figure 2
Price shift, LATE and ATE
Figure 3
Figure 3
Survey Period and Historical Monthly Rainfall Variation Notes: Intervals depict geographic variation in mean rainfall within a month over the survey period (blue) and historically (black).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Health Care Choice by Distance to Facility Notes: Distance trimmed at 99th percentile.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Health Care Choice by Distance to Facility and Rainfall Notes: Red vertical line depicts median of distance to nearest health facility. Distance trimmed at 99th percentile.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Survey Period and Historical Monthly Rainfall Variation by Distance Notes: Gaps between red and green diamonds depict differences between rainfall of more and less distant areas in each survey month. Gaps between brown and black dots depict persistent differences to be with historical means and month dummies as controls.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Contour Plot of Health Care Choice, Distance to Facility, and Rainfall Notes: Distance trimmed at 99th percentile.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Adhvaryu Achyuta. Learning, Misallocation, and Technology Adoption: Evidence from New Malaria Therapy in Tanzania. Review of Economic Studies. 2014 forthcoming. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Adhvaryu Achyuta, Nyshadham Anant. Schooling, Child Labor and the Returns to Healthcare in Tanzania. Journal of Human Resources. 2012;47(2):364–396. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Adhvaryu Achyuta, Nyshadham Anant. Health, Enterprise, and Labor Complementarity in the Household. Working paper 2013 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arrow KJ, Panosian C, Gelband H, et al. Saving Lives, Buying Time: Economics of Malaria Drugs in an Age of Resistance. National Academies Press; 2004. - PubMed
    1. Almond Douglas, Doyle Joseph. After Midnight: A Regression Discontinuity Design in Length of Postpartum Hospital Stays. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. 2011;3(3):1–34.

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