COVID-19 and Public Health Spending; Effects on the Economic Sustainability of the Spanish Private Healthcare System

María del Carmen Valls Martínez (), José Manuel Santos-Jaén, Rafael Félix Valls-Úbeda and Rafael Soriano Román
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María del Carmen Valls Martínez: Mediterranean Research Center on Economics and Sustainable Development, 04120 Almería, Spain
José Manuel Santos-Jaén: Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Rafael Félix Valls-Úbeda: Mediterranean Research Center on Economics and Sustainable Development, 04120 Almería, Spain
Rafael Soriano Román: Mediterranean Research Center on Economics and Sustainable Development, 04120 Almería, Spain

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 2, 1-18

Abstract: This research analyzes the influence of COVID-19 and public health spending policies on the economic sustainability of Spanish private hospitals. Moreover, it explores the relationship between public health spending policies and the spread of COVID-19 in Spain. Private health care is an understudied sector, yet it is fundamental to the health of citizens. Moreover, the economic causes linked to the spread of the pandemic have not yet been clearly established. Therefore, this work covers a gap in the literature. Private hospital profitability was analyzed by applying ordinary least squares and panel data regressions on financial and macroeconomic data for the period 2017–2020. The spread of COVID-19 was examined by means of cluster and component analysis. The results show that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the economic sustainability of Spanish private hospitals, which was also influenced by public health spending. In turn, the spread of the pandemic was mainly related to population density, but was also influenced by public health spending and the gross domestic product of the region. Therefore, policymakers must consider that it is essential to make adequate investments in the healthcare system to cope with pandemics such as COVID-19. In addition, managers can see how corporate social responsibility is a valuable strategy for maintaining hospital profitability.

Keywords: COVID-19; public health spending; economic sustainability; private healthcare system; profitability; corporate social responsibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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