%0 Journal Article
%T The influence of (public) health expenditure on longevity
%J International journal of public health
%D 2014
%A Aísa, Rosa
%A Clemente, Jesús
%A Pueyo, Fernando
%V 59
%N 5
%P 867-875
%X OBJECTIVES: We report new evidence on the contribution of health expenditure to increasing life expectancy in OECD countries, differentiating the effects of public and private health expenditures. <br><br>METHODS: A theoretical model is presented and estimated though a cross-country fixed effects multiple regression analysis for a sample of OECD countries over the period 1980-2000. <br><br>RESULTS: Although the effect of aggregate health expenditure is not conclusive, public health expenditure plays a significant role in enhancing longevity. However, its influence diminishes as the size of the public health sector on GDP expands, reaching a maximum around the 8 %. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: With the influence of public health expenditure being positive, the ambiguous effect of the aggregate expenditure suggests that the weight of public and private health sectors matters, the second having a lower impact on longevity. This might explain the poor evolution of the life expectancy in countries with a high amount of private resources devoted to health. In such cases, an extension of public services could give rise to a better outcome from the overall health investment.<p /><p>Language: en</p>
%G en
%I Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group
%@ 1661-8556
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00038-014-0574-6