July 1995 Cross-country comparisons suggest that poor people tend to be in worse health than others, and that their health responds more to differences in public health spending. Are the poor less healthy? Does public health spending matter more to them? Bidani and Ravallion decompose aggregate health indicators using a random coefficients model in which the aggregates are regressed on the population distribution by subgroups, taking account of the statistical properties of the error term and allowing for other determinants of health status, including public health spending. This also allows them to test possible determinants of the variation in the underlying subgroup indicators. They implement the approach with data on health outcomes and poverty measures for 35 developing countries. Bidani and Ravallion find that poor people have appreciably worse health status on average than others--and that differences in public health spending tend to matter more to the poor. This is probably because the nonpoor are in a better position to buy private health care. This paper--a product of the Poverty and Human Resources Division, Policy Research Department--is part of a larger effort in the department to understand the interlinkage between poverty and human development.

Why do some societies fare well, and others poorly, at reducing the risk of early death? Wealth, Health, and Democracy in East Asia and Latin America finds that the public provision of basic health care and other inexpensive social services has reduced mortality rapidly even in tough economic circumstances, and that political democracy has contributed to the provision and utilization of such social services, in a wider range of ways than is sometimes recognized. These conclusions are based on case studies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand, as well as on cross-national comparisons involving these cases and others.

This book is a comprehensive resource that provides a new perspective on the influence of social structures on health.

What new theories, evidence, and policies have shaped health economics in the 21st century? Editors Mark Pauly, Thomas McGuire, and Pedro Pita Barros assemble the expertise of leading authorities in this survey of substantive issues. In 16 chapters they cover recent developments in health economics, from medical spending growth to the demand for health care, the markets for pharmaceutical products, the medical workforce, and equity in health and health care. Its global perspective, including an emphasis on low and middle-income countries, will result in the same high citations that made Volume 1 (2000) a foundational text. Presents coherent summaries of major subjects and methodologies, marking important advances and revisions. Serves as a frequently used non-journal reference. Introduces non-economists to the best research in health economics.

After thirty years of economic reform, China has reached a crossroads in its development process, and faces many challenges in the use of natural resources, the living environment, and the economic, social and political systems. The sustainability of China’s reform and development is even more salient in the face of the global financial crisis and economic recession. Taking the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing as an iconic turning-point, the book explores key themes such as economic reform and sustainability, innovation and sustainability, globalisation and social development, and analyses the prospects for sustainable reform and development in Post-Olympic China. The book includes topics such as Chinese banking reforms; the issue of regional inequalities; energy and environmental challenges; industry development and corporate social responsibility, and democracy and media bloggers. With analysis written by experts from a wide range of disciplines, the book will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in China’s environment and sustainable development, economic and political reform, and international relations.

This publication examines how public spending on health care can be made more efficient and equitable in developing countries, focusing on strategic purchasing and contracting of services from non-governmental providers. It is divided into six sections under the headings of: the conceptual framework; how to make strategic purchasing pro-poor; purchasing health services; purchasing inputs; supply, demand and markets; legal and regulatory issues.

"An overview of the economic development of and policies intended to combat poverty around the world"--Provided by publisher.

Until now, most socially responsible and impact investments have centred on developed markets, with growth potential and investment opportunities in the frontier economies of countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam being mostly overlooked. While some individuals and organizations have begun to develop responsible investment opportunities with these countries in mind, large new sources of capital for development could still emerge. This book explores the greater potential for global investment in Southeast Asia, and the ways in which socially responsible investment styles can be used in their developing economies. It demonstrates how the benefits of investment could create a robust platform for separate stakeholders, including governments, non-governmental organizations, development banks, the financial sector, and small and medium sized enterprises. The author explores how shaping collaborative sustainable investment policies could speed up inclusive development, address the needs of those at the bottom of the pyramid, and ensure sustainable future growth.

This book discusses the need to carefully and prudently apply various regression techniques in order to obtain the full benefits. It also describes some of the techniques developed and used by the authors, presenting their innovative ideas regarding the formulation and estimation of regression decomposition models, hidden Markov chain, and the contribution of regressors in the set-theoretic approach, calorie poverty rate, and aggregate growth rate. Each of these techniques has applications that address a number of unanswered questions; for example, regression decomposition techniques reveal intra-household gender inequalities of consumption, intra-household allocation of resources and adult equivalent scales, while Hidden Markov chain models can forecast the results of future elections. Most of these procedures are presented using real-world data, and the techniques can be applied in other similar situations. Showing how difficult questions can be answered by developing simple models with simple interpretation of parameters, the book is a valuable resource for students and researchers in the field of model building.