Public Healthcare Spending, Business Dynamism, and Wage Inequality: Evidence from Developed and Developing Economies
研究了公共医疗支出对工资不平等和社会福利的影响，通过理论模型和112个经济体2006-2018年的数据，发现长期中公共医疗支出会加剧工资不平等。
Abstract This paper examines the effects of public healthcare spending on wage inequality and social welfare in an economy with rural and urban regions. The objectives are twofold. First, we introduce a simple theoretical framework that captures the link between public healthcare spending and firms' output choice and subsequent wage provisions. We demonstrate that in the short run, a rise in public healthcare services can increase urban output and lower urban unemployment and raise both skilled and unskilled wage rates. In the long run, firm entry produces a business‐dynamism effect that enhances the rate of return on capital, reduces the unskilled wage rate and intensifies wage inequality. Second, we empirically test our theoretical predictions using data from 112 economies in the period 2006–2018. We find evidence supporting our theoretical findings concerning the effects of public healthcare on wage outcomes, especially in the long run. Results are highly consistent across the two groups: advanced economies (mainly OECD/European economies), and emerging and developing economies based on alternative measures for wage inequality, including the GINI coefficient and top income share. The paper provides useful information for the public healthcare policy.