Public Health Expenditures and Health Outcomes in Pakistan: Evidence from Quantile Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model

Abstract

Objective The provision of healthcare facilities remains high on the manifesto of various political parties in Pakistan and healthcare spending has witnessed a significant surge in the last two decades that is expected to positively influence health outcomes in the country. Therefore, this research aims to explore the effects of healthcare expenditures on the actual health status of the masses in Pakistan for the period 1995Q1 to 2017Q1. Methods We apply the Quantile Autoregressive Distributed Lag (QARDL) approach for estimation purposes. This is the most recent and emerging estimation technique in time series analysis. Results Our findings confirm that public healthcare spending significantly impacts health outcomes in Pakistan both in the short-run and long-run. Public healthcare spending improves life expectancy and reduces death rate and infant mortality. Conclusion The study concludes that public healthcare is the main focus of the current regime. It is noticed that spending on healthcare significantly contributes to the health outcomes in Pakistan. These efforts by the government significantly promote life expectancy and drop down the mortality ratio in the country. Based on these notable facts, the government should allocate sufficient resources towards the latest healthcare technologies and equipment to optimize health outcomes in the country.

Exploring the Role of Health Expenditure and Maternal Mortality in South Asian Countries: An Approach towards Shaping Better Health Policy

“…Gupta [45] argued that public spending enhances health and education in developing and emerging economies. Ullah et al [46] findings confirm that public healthcare spending significantly impacts health outcomes in Pakistan both in the short-run and long-run. Using a fixed effect model, Nixon and Ulmann [19], in a panel of 15 European Union members over the period 1980-1995, showed that health care expenditure and infant mortality rates were strongly associated, while the results for life expectancy were found to be marginally associated.…”

Work–Family Conflict, Emotional Intelligence, and General Self-Efficacy Among Medical Practitioners During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…33 Nevertheless, future line of research can also explore the influence of lack of infrastructure and funding for the welfare of healthcare workers in developing countries on their emotional well-being. [34][35][36]…”

Assessing the impact of governance and health expenditures on carbon emissions in China: Role of environmental regulation

“…This puts strain on a variety of urban amenities, including sanitation, and sewerage systems, which in turn contributes to the deterioration of the surrounding environment. In addition, as a result of the massive flood of people and the unplanned housing societies, there has been observed an increasing drift of deforestation, which has further contributed to the deterioration of the situation ( 90 ). There is also evidence for an inverse relationship between the CE and URB nexus in Nigeria's economy, according to Kaleem Khan et al ( 91 ).…”

“…In addition to the result that spending on health care in both the public and private sectors led to a reduction in the environmental pollution in Asia, This study also shows that the private health sector has a greater negative impact on CO 2 emissions than the public sector. This result is based on comparing the two sectors' expenditures on healthcare ( 90 ).…”