On Decomposing the Causes of Health Sector Inequalities with an Application to Malnutrition Inequalities in Vietnam

On Decomposing the Causes of Health Sector Inequalities with an Application to Malnutrition Inequalities in Vietnam

The authors propose a method for decomposing inequalities in the health sector into their causes, by coupling the concentration index with a regression framework. They also show how changes in inequality over time, and differences across countries,...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wagstaff, Adam, Van Doorslaer, Eddy, Watanabe, Naoko
Format: Policy Research Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2014
Subjects:
HEALTH SERVICES
ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE
ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES
REGRESSION ANALYSIS
CHILDREN NUTRITION
CHILD NUTRITION
MALNUTRITION IN CHILDREN
HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION
INEQUITY
DECOMPOSITION METHOD CHILD MALNUTRITION
CHILD MORTALITY
DECOMPOSITION RESULTS
DECREASING FUNCTION
DISTRIBUTIONAL DATA
DRINKING WATER
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
ELASTICITIES
ELASTICITY
EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
EMPIRICAL MODEL
EMPIRICAL RESULTS
EQUAL INCREASE
GINI COEFFICIENT
GIRLS
HEALTH OUTCOMES
HOUSEHOLDS
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
INCOME
INCOME DISTRIBUTION
INCOME GROUPS
INCOME INEQUALITY
INCOMES
INCREASING FUNCTION
INEQUALITY
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
LINEAR REGRESSION
MALNUTRITION
MEAN CONSUMPTION
MEASUREMENT ERROR
MODEL ESTIMATION
MORTALITY
MOTHERS
NEGATIVE EFFECT
NEGATIVE VALUE
NET CHANGE
NET EFFECT
NUTRITIONAL STATUS
OPPORTUNITY COSTS
PARENTS
POLICY RESEARCH
POOR CHILDREN
POOR PEOPLE
PRODUCTION FUNCTION
PROPORTIONAL INCREASE
PUBLIC EXPENDITURE
PUBLIC EXPENDITURES
PUBLIC HEALTH
REGRESSION RESULTS
RELATIVE IMPORTANCE
RELATIVE INCOME
RELATIVE INCOME INEQUALITY
RISING INEQUALITY
RURAL AREAS
SAFE DRINKING WATER
SANITATION
SIGNIFICANT NEGATIVE
STUNTING
VACCINATION
DECOMPOSITION METHOD
CHILD MALNUTRITION
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/11/1637744/decomposing-causes-health-sector-inequalities-application-malnutrition-inequalities-vietnam
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19426
Description
Summary:The authors propose a method for decomposing inequalities in the health sector into their causes, by coupling the concentration index with a regression framework. They also show how changes in inequality over time, and differences across countries, can be decomposed into the following: Changes due to changing inequalities in the determinants of the variable of interest. Changes in the means of the determinants. Changes in the effects of the determinants o the variable of interest. The authors illustrate the method using data on child malnutrition in Vietnam. They find that inequalities in height-for-age in 1993 and 1998 are accounted for largely by inequalities in household consumption and by unobserved influences at the commune level. And they find that an increase in such inequalities is accounted for largely by changes in these two influences. In the case of household consumption, rising inequalities play a part, but more important have been the inequality-increasing effects of rising average consumption and the increased protective effect of consumption on nutritional status. In the case of unobserved commune-level influences, rising inequality and general improvements seem to have been roughly equally important in accounting for rising inequality in malnutrition.

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