 Household Responses to Public Health Services: Cost and Quality TradeoffsHarold Alderman and Victor Lavy The World Bank Research Observer, 1996, vol. 11, issue 1, 3-22 Abstract: The effectiveness of government investments in health care depends on the public's response to price and quality as well as on whether these expenditures actually improve health outcomes. Consumers, even those in low-income households, are willing to pay fees for better health care if the fees translate into improved access and reliability. But when prices rise without a concomitant improvement in services, malnutrition and child mortality rates increase. The availability of basic health care has a relatively greater impact on households with low incomes or low education, or both, than does the provision of more specialized services. This article describes the types of services for which households indicate they are willing to pay increased fees. It also indicates the potential gains from improving these services, as well as the consequences of moving faster on cost recovery than on providing improved or better-targeted services. Copyright 1996 by Oxford University Press. Date: 1996 There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:wbrobs:v:11:y:1996:i:1:p:3-22 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article The World Bank Research Observer is currently edited by Peter Lanjouw More articles in The World Bank Research Observer from World Bank Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK. Contact information at EDIRC. |
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