Public Health and Education Spending in Ghana in 1992-98 : Issues of Equity and Efficiency
Using primary data from the health and education ministries, and household survey data from the Ghana Statistical Service, the authors analyze equity, and efficiency issues in public spending on health, and education in Ghana in the 1990s. Public e...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/04/1089551/public-health-education-spending-ghana-1992-98-issues-equity-efficiency http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19663 |
| Summary: | Using primary data from the health and
education ministries, and household survey data from the
Ghana Statistical Service, the authors analyze equity, and
efficiency issues in public spending on health, and
education in Ghana in the 1990s. Public expenditures in the
education sector, declined in the second half of the 1990s.
Basic education enrollment has been stagnant, or declining
in public schools, but increasing in private schools,
resulting in a moderate increase in total enrollment.
Regional disparities are significant, with lower public
resource allocations, and lower enrollment ratios in the
three poorest regions. The quality of basic education in
public schools remains poor, while it has steadily improved
in private schools. Enrollments in higher levels are lagging
behind those in basic education. Ghana ranks high among West
African countries in health indicators, although its health
expenditures tend to favor the non-poor. While more of the
rural population have gained access to health services in
recent years, many still have limited access, or none.
Moreover, there is no link between the pattern of public
expenditures - especially the pattern of immunization across
Ghana - and health outcomes. To ensure that social services
are efficiently, and equitably delivered in a fiscally
constrained economy, the authors argue, public expenditures
need to be linked to outcomes. |
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