The health care expenditure in Italian regions is examined, applying the model selection procedure and panel methodologies to identify the determinants of health expenditure at the state level. After a brief introduction and a survey of the economic literature on this issue, we discuss the data and brief-ly introduce the methodologies. Empirical results suggest that the real Gross State Product, the unem-ployment rate, the number of beds in community hospitals, the urbanization degree and the percentage of the population with at least the junior high school degree had a direct impact on the real health care outlay. Furthermore, the income elasticity is below the unity (0.83-0.88 according to the static panel estimates, 0.43-0.48 for the dynamic methods), implying that health expenditure is a ne-cessity rather than a luxury good at the state level.

Magazzino, C., Mele, M. (2012). The Determinants of Health Expenditure in Italian Regions. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCE, 4(3), 61-72 [10.5539/ijef.v4n3p61].

The Determinants of Health Expenditure in Italian Regions

MAGAZZINO, COSIMO;
2012-01-01

Abstract

The health care expenditure in Italian regions is examined, applying the model selection procedure and panel methodologies to identify the determinants of health expenditure at the state level. After a brief introduction and a survey of the economic literature on this issue, we discuss the data and brief-ly introduce the methodologies. Empirical results suggest that the real Gross State Product, the unem-ployment rate, the number of beds in community hospitals, the urbanization degree and the percentage of the population with at least the junior high school degree had a direct impact on the real health care outlay. Furthermore, the income elasticity is below the unity (0.83-0.88 according to the static panel estimates, 0.43-0.48 for the dynamic methods), implying that health expenditure is a ne-cessity rather than a luxury good at the state level.
2012
Magazzino, C., Mele, M. (2012). The Determinants of Health Expenditure in Italian Regions. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCE, 4(3), 61-72 [10.5539/ijef.v4n3p61].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11590/154495
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