TITLE:
Estimating a Health Production Function for Brazil: Some New Evidence
AUTHORS:
Pedro Hemsley, Lavinia Hollanda
KEYWORDS:
Health Care Economics and Organizations, Health Expenditures, Child Mortality
JOURNAL NAME:
Theoretical Economics Letters,
Vol.10 No.5,
October
16,
2020
ABSTRACT: This paper reports the impact of low-cost health
centers on child mortality in Brazil. We use a comprehensive database to
evaluate the impact of a change in Brazilian
health policy from 2006 to 2009, when the number of health centers per
capita increased significantly while hospitals per capita were reduced,
indicating a focus on low-cost, low-complexity medical services. Unlike most
empirical studies, our results indicate that additional health care decreases
mortality. Increasing the number of health centers per capita decreases
mortality through access to basic services and make high-complexity hospitals
more effective, as they can focus on more serious conditions.