Discussion paper

DP14705 Private Health Investments under Competing Risks: Evidence from Malaria Control in Senegal

This study exploits the introduction of high subsidies for anti-malaria products in Senegal in 2009 to investigate whether malaria prevents parents from investing in child health. A simple model of health investments under competing mortality risks predicts that private
expenses to fight malaria and other diseases should increase in response to anti-malaria public interventions. We test and validate this prediction using original panel data from a household expenditure survey combined with geographical information on malaria prevalence. We find that health expenditures in malarious regions catch up with non-malarious regions. The same result holds for parental health-seeking behavior against other diseases like diarrhea. These patterns cannot be explained by differential trends between regions. Our results suggest that behavioral responses to anti-malaria campaigns magnify their impact on all-cause mortality for children.

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Citation

Rossi, P and P Villar (2020), ‘DP14705 Private Health Investments under Competing Risks: Evidence from Malaria Control in Senegal‘, CEPR Discussion Paper No. 14705. CEPR Press, Paris & London. https://cepr.org/publications/dp14705