Subsidies, Information, and the Timing of Children's Health Care in Mali

Anja Sautmann, Samuel Brown and Mark Dean

No 6057, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: We study how healthcare subsidies and improved information affect over- and under-use of primary healthcare in a randomized control trial of 1544 children in Mali. In a dynamic model of healthcare demand, misuse relative to policymaker preferences (here given by WHO care-seeking standards) arises from seeking care too early or too late during an illness spell. Using nine weeks of daily data, we show that the barrier to optimal care seeking is cost, not information: subsidies increase demand by over 250%, but overuse is rare with or without the subsidy. Information, contrary to intent, appears to increase underuse, as our model predicts.

Keywords: primary healthcare; subsidies; healthcare demand (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Subsidies, Information, and the Timing of Childrenís Health Care in Mali (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6057

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