title: What drives public health care expenditure growth? Evidence from Swiss cantons, 1970-2012.
abstract: A better understanding of the determinants of public health care expenditures is key to designing effective health policies. We integrate demand and supply-side determinants and factors from political economy into an empirical analysis of the highly decentralized Swiss health care system and control for major health care finance reforms. We compile a novel data set of the cantonal health care expenditure in Switzerland, which currently amounts to about one fifth of total health care expenditure. We analyze the period 1970-2012 and use dynamic panel estimation methods. We find that per capita income, the unemployment rate and the share of foreigners are positively related to public health care expenditure growth. With regard to political economy aspects, public health care expenditures increase with the share of women elected to parliament. However, institutional restrictions for politicians, such as fiscal rules, do not appear to limit public health care expenditure growth.
authors: Swiss Federal Department of Finance, Federal Finance Administration and University of Basel, Faculty of Business and Economics, Bundesgasse 3, 3003 Berne, Switzerland. Electronic address: thomas.braendle@efv.admin.ch.
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Braendle
authors: Swiss Federal Department of Finance, Federal Finance Administration and University of Cologne, Institute for Public Economics, Bundesgasse 3, 3003 Berne, Switzerland. Electronic address: carsten.colombier@efv.admin.ch.
authors: Carsten
authors: C
authors: Colombier
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005380:Financing, Government / Q000191:economics; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000191:economics; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D011634:Public Health; D013557:Switzerland; D014478:Unemployment
keywords: Government financing; Health expenditures; Public hospitals; Statistical data analysis