The impact of decentralisation on the performance of health care systems: a non-linear relationship

Autor: Alberto Marino, Sean Dougherty, Luca Lorenzoni, Fabrice Murtin
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: The European Journal of Health Economics
ISSN: 1618-7601
1618-7598
Popis: This paper examines the role of institutions—notably the degree of administrative decentralisation across levels of government—in health care decision-making and health spending as well as life expectancy. The empirical analysis builds on a new methodology to analyse health sector performance. In particular, the present analysis examines the impact of centralisation versus decentralisation of responsibilities across levels of government, making use of newly collected data on governance and expenditure assignment, as well as non-linear empirical specifications. An interlocking U-shaped relationship is found with respect to expenditure and life expectancy. Under moderate decentralisation, public spending in health care is lower, while life expectancy is higher, compared with more centralised systems; however, in highly decentralised systems, public spending is higher and life expectancy is lower. This finding of a “fish-shaped” relationship for decentralisation and outcomes also helps to understand recent reforms of OECD health systems, which have often reverted towards more moderate degrees of administrative decentralisation. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10198-021-01390-1.
Databáze: OpenAIRE