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Title Governance and the effectiveness of public health subsidies: Evidence from Ghana, Kenya and Uganda.
Full text https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8352m5xv
Date 2017
Author(s) Dizon-Ross, Rebecca; Dupas, Pascaline; Robinson, Jonathan
Abstract Distributing subsidized health products through existing health infrastructure could substantially and cost-effectively improve health in sub-Saharan Africa. There is, however, widespread concern that poor governance - in particular, limited health worker accountability - seriously undermines the effectiveness of subsidy programs. We audit targeted bednet distribution programs to quantify the extent of agency problems. We find that around 80% of the eligible receive the subsidy as intended, and up to 15% of subsidies are leaked to ineligible people. Supplementing the program with simple financial or monitoring incentives for health workers does not improve performance further and is thus not cost-effective in this context.
Subject(s) extortion; leakage; motivation; shirking; Health Services; Comparative Effectiveness Research; Cost Effectiveness Research; Clinical Research; Good Health and Well Being; Leakage; Extortion; Shirking; Motivation; Economic Theory; Applied Economics; Econometrics; Economics
Publisher eScholarship, University of California
Type of publication article
Format application/pdf
Rights public
Identifier qt8352m5xv
Repository Berkeley - University of California
Added to C-A: 2023-05-22;08:43:50