Health-care expenditures, economic growth and infant mortality: evidence from developed and developing countries

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of health-care expenditures on child mortality rates using a simultaneous-equation model for 93 developed and developing countries with data spanning the period 1995–2012. The findings show that health expenditure has a positive effect on reducing child mortality only for upper-middle-income and high-income countries, whereas for low-income and lower-middle-income countries, health spending does not have a significant impact on child health status. It is also found that at lower development levels, public health spending has a greater effect on mortality rates than private expenditure, while at high development levels private health expenditure has a positive impact on child mortality.