Decomposing the determinants of health care expenditure: the case of Spain.
The aim of this paper is to analyze the determinants of regional health-care expenditure in Spain. The coexistence of several models concerning the degree of spending power decentralization and financing systems makes Spain a singular case. It also allows us to draw conclusions relevant to other countries  in decentralizing their health-care systems, and to understand cross-country differences with estimated parameters. Using data from the Spanish regions for the period 1992-2005, we show that the estimated health public expenditure income elasticity does change depending on the omission of relevant variables,  econometric specifications and techniques, and institutional arrangements. Moreover, while demographic structure is a very relevant factor when explaining health-care expenditure dynamics, multicollinearity biases econometric parameter estimates.
Prieto
David Cantarero
DC
Department of Economics, University of Cantabria, Avda. Los Castros, s/n. 39005, Santander, Spain. david.cantarero@unican.es
Lago-Peñas
Santiago
S
D000368:Aged; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003625:Data Collection; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged; D017059:Models, Econometric; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000191:economics*; D013030:Spain