The Determinants of Health Expenditure: A Country-Level Panel Data Analysis

This paper analyzes how total health spending and its components (public vs. private, out of pocket vs. prepaid or insured) depend on income (level, composition and distribution), demographic factors, government revenues and other causes. It assesses whether health spending evolves smoothly or goes through clear moments of transition in how much is spent and on what. It finds little evidence for discontinuities in health spending in most countries over recent decades.