Health Seeking Behavior among Rural Left-Behind Children: Evidence from Shaanxi and Gansu Provinces in China

Hongyu Guan (), Huan Wang, Juerong Huang, Kang Du, Jin Zhao, Matthew Boswell, Yaojiang Shi, Mony Iyer and Scott Rozelle
Additional contact information
Huan Wang: Center for Experimental Economics in Education, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, 710127, China
Kang Du: Center for Experimental Economics in Education, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, 710127, China
Jin Zhao: Center for Experimental Economics in Education, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, 710127, China
Matthew Boswell: Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Mony Iyer: Onesight Foundation, 4000 Luxottica Pl, Mason, OH 45040, USA

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: More than 60 million children in rural China are “left-behind”—both parents live and work far from their rural homes and leave their children behind. This paper explores differences in how left-behind and non-left-behind children seek health remediation in China’s vast but understudied rural areas. This study examines this question in the context of a program to provide vision health care to myopic rural students. The data come from a randomized controlled trial of 13,100 students in Gansu and Shaanxi provinces in China. The results show that without a subsidy, uptake of health care services is low, even if individuals are provided with evidence of a potential problem (an eyeglasses prescription). Uptake rises two to three times when this information is paired with a subsidy voucher redeemable for a free pair of prescription eyeglasses. In fact, left-behind children who receive an eyeglasses voucher are not only more likely to redeem it, but also more likely to use the eyeglasses both in the short term and long term. In other words, in terms of uptake of care and compliance with treatment, the voucher program benefitted left-behind students more than non-left-behind students. The results provide a scientific understanding of differential impacts for guiding effective implementation of health policy to all groups in need in developing countries.

Keywords: randomized controlled trial; rural China; left-behind children; healthcare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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