Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/59132 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
Center Discussion Paper No. 995
Publisher: 
Yale University, Economic Growth Center, New Haven, CT
Abstract: 
We estimate the effects of higher quality healthcare usage on health, labor supply and schooling outcomes for sick individuals in Tanzania. Using exogenous variation in the cost of formal sector healthcare to predict treatment choice, we show that using better quality care improves health outcomes and changes the allocation of time amongst productive activities. In particular, sick adults who receive better quality care reallocate time from non-farm to farm labor, leaving total labor hours unchanged. Among sick children, school attendance significantly increases as a result of receiving higher quality healthcare, but labor allocations are unaffected. We interpret these results as evidence that healthcare has heterogeneous effects on marginal productivity across productive activities and household members.
Subjects: 
labor supply
health shocks
schooling
Tanzania
JEL: 
I10
J22
J43
O12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
290.83 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.