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BMC Health Services Research
Published in: BMC Health Services Research 1/2016

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Research article

The convergence of Chinese county government health expenditures: capitation and contribution

Authors: Guoying Zhang, Luwen Zhang, Shaolong Wu, Xiaoqiong Xia, Liming Lu

Published in: BMC Health Services Research | Issue 1/2016

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Abstract

Background

The disparity between government health expenditures across regions is more severe in developing countries than it is in developed countries. The capitation subsidy method has been proven effective in developed countries in reducing this disparity, but it has not been tested in China, the world’s largest developing country.

Methods

The convergence method of neoclassical economics was adopted to test the convergence of China’s regional government health expenditure. Data were obtained from Provinces, Prefectures and Counties Fiscal Statistical Yearbook (2003–2007) edited by the Chinese Ministry of Finance, and published by the Chinese Finance & Economics Publishing House.

Results

The existence of σ-convergence and long-term and short-term β-convergence indicated the effectiveness of the capitation subsidy method in the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme on narrowing county government health expenditure disparities. The supply-side variables contributed the most to the county government health expenditure convergence, and factors contributing to convergence of county government health expenditures per capita were different in three regions.

Conclusion

The narrowing disparity between county government health expenditures across regions supports the effectiveness of the capitation subsidy method adopted by China’s New Rural Cooperative Scheme. However, subsidy policy still requires further improvement.
Footnotes
1
In this paper, county refers to county-level units including counties, autonomous counties, county-level cities, qi, autonomous qi, and districts.
 
2
Based on Local Fiscal Final Accounts (di fang cai zheng zong jue suan) (2003–2007), the data in Provinces, Prefectures and Counties Fiscal Statistical Yearbook (2003–2007) was collected, calculated, and aggregated. Furthermore, the data in Local Fiscal Final Accounts originated from the local government’s routine record of fiscal revenue and expenditure.
 
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Metadata
Title
The convergence of Chinese county government health expenditures: capitation and contribution
Authors
Guoying Zhang
Luwen Zhang
Shaolong Wu
Xiaoqiong Xia
Liming Lu
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Health Services Research / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6963
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-016-1635-8

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