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The European Journal of Health Economics
Published in: The European Journal of Health Economics 5/2011

01-10-2011 | Original Paper

Ageing and health care expenditure in EU-15

Authors: Mickael Bech, Terkel Christiansen, Ehsan Khoman, Jørgen Lauridsen, Martin Weale

Published in: The European Journal of Health Economics | Issue 5/2011

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between ageing and the evolution of health care expenditure per capita in the EU-15 countries. A secondary purpose is to produce estimates that can be used in projections of future health care costs. Explanatory variables include economic, social, demographic and institutional variables as well as variables related to capacity and production technology in the health care sector. The study applies a co-integrated panel data regression approach to derive short-run relationships and furthermore reports long-run relationships between health care expenditure and the explanatory variables. Our findings suggest that there is a positive short-run effect of ageing on health care expenditure, but that the long-run effect of ageing is approximately zero. We find life expectancy to be a more important driver. Although the short-run effect of life expectancy on expenditure is approximately zero, we find that the long-run effect is positive, so that increasing life expectancy leads to a more than proportional, i.e. exponential, increase in health care expenditure.
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Metadata
Title
Ageing and health care expenditure in EU-15
Authors
Mickael Bech
Terkel Christiansen
Ehsan Khoman
Jørgen Lauridsen
Martin Weale
Publication date
01-10-2011
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
The European Journal of Health Economics / Issue 5/2011
Print ISSN: 1618-7598
Electronic ISSN: 1618-7601
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-010-0260-4

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