Erwin R. Tiongson

The effectiveness of government spending on education and health care in developing and transition economies

Abstract Recent studies show that corruption is associated with higher military spending [Eur. J. Polit. Econ. 17 (2001) 794] and lower government spending on education and health care [J. Publ. Econ. 69 (1998) 263]. This suggests that policies aimed at reducing corruption may lead to changes in the composition of government outlays toward more productive spending. However, little empirical evidence has been presented to support the claim that public spending improves education and health indicators in developing and transition countries. This paper uses cross-sectional data for 50 such countries to show that increased public expenditure on education and health care is associated with improvements in both access to and attainment in schools, and reduces mortality rates for infants and children. The education regressions are robust to different specifications, but the relationship between health care spending and mortality rates is weaker.

Privatization, Labor and Social Safety Nets

Privatization promotes economic efficiency and growth, thereby reinforcing macroeconomic adjustment. In the short run, however, it can lead to job losses and wage cuts for workers. This paper discusses these adverse impacts of privatization in terms of various methods of privatization and surveys the existing empirical evidence. It finds that public sales and auctions can have stronger negative effects on workers but maximize the governments revenue. Policymakers options for mitigating the social impact of privatization are surveyed. Copyright 2001 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd

Public Spendingon Health Care and Poor

This paper estimates the impact of public spending on the poors health status in over 70 countries. It provides evidence that the poor have significantly worse health status than the rich and that they are more favorably affected by public spending on health care. An important new result is that the relationship between public spending and the health status of the poor is stronger in low-income countries than in higher-income countries. However, the results suggest that increased public spending alone will not be sufficient to meet international commitments for improvements in health status.

What Sustains Fiscal Consolidations in Emerging Market Countries

This paper examines the factors affecting the persistence of fiscal consolidation in 25 emerging market countries during 1980-2001. It proposes a new approach for defining spells of fiscal consolidation. The results indicate that the probability of ending a fiscal adjustment is affected by the legacy of previous fiscal failures, the size of the deficit, the composition of spending, and level of total revenues. There is also some evidence that the initial debt stock, exchange rate developments, inflation, and the unemployment rate have an impact on the persistence of adjustments.

Decomposing social indicators using ecological inference

Cross-country data on the distribution of health indicators by income classes are rare. Several methods for estimating disaggregated data have been proposed. The method of decomposing average health indicators for the population as a whole into averages for the poor and nonpoor using a random coefficients model can lead to difficulties, including out-of-bounds country-level estimates. An alternative methodology from ecological inference is proposed.

Public Spending on Health Care and the Poor

This paper uses new cross-country data to assess the relationship between public spending on health care and the health status of the poor. Data are drawn from two sources: (i) existing data on health status by income quintile tabulated from demographic health surveys in 44 countries; and (ii) our estimates of the health status of the poor in over 70 countries drawn from a new technique in decomposing social indicators. Our estimates confirm that the poor have significantly worse health status than the nonpoor and the regression results provide new evidence that public spending on health care matters more to them. However, the results suggest that increased public spending alone will not be sufficient to significantly improve health status.