WHY DO AMERICANS SPEND SO MUCH MORE ON HEALTH CARE THAN EUROPEANS?

B-Tier
Journal: International Economic Review
Year: 2021
Volume: 62
Issue: 4
Pages: 1363-1399

Authors (3)

Hui He (International Monetary Fund (I...) Kevin X.D. Huang (not in RePEc) Lei Ning (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

0.670 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Empirical evidence shows that both leisure and medical care are important in maintaining health and taxation may affect the allocation of these two inputs. We highlight this point using an analytical setting whose implications conform to micro‐ and macro‐data. We then quantify these implications using a life‐cycle overlapping generations model where taxation and relative health‐care price are key determinants of the composition of the two inputs in the endogenous accumulation of health capital. We find that differences in taxation alone explain 44.7% of U.S.–EU differences in health expenditure–GDP ratio and more than 70% of their differences in time allocation.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:wly:iecrev:v:62:y:2021:i:4:p:1363-1399
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-02-02