Private health investments under competing risks: Evidence from malaria control in Senegal
利用塞内加尔2009年抗疟产品高补贴政策，研究疟疾是否阻碍父母对儿童健康的投资，发现补贴后疟疾地区健康支出追平非疟疾地区，且父母对其他疾病的求医行为也改善，表明行为响应放大了抗疟运动对儿童全因死亡率的影响。
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.