Hollard Guillaume, Sene Omar
Ecole Polytechnique and CNRS, France; Ecole Polytechnique, France.
J Health Econ. 2016 Jan;45:1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2015.10.004. Epub 2015 Nov 10.
We test for a causal role of social capital, as measured by self-reported trust, in determining access to basic health facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa. To skirt the reverse-causality problems between social capital and basic health, we rely on instrumental-variable (IV) estimates. A one standard-deviation increase in trust is predicted to lead to a 0.22 standard-deviation fall in doctor absenteeism, a 0.31 standard-deviation fall in waiting time and a 0.30 standard-deviation fall in bribes. As a robustness check, we also use a different database regarding a different health issue, access to clean water. We find that a one standard-deviation rise in trust leads to a 0.33 standard-deviation rise in access to clean water. The variety of public goods considered provides insights about the possible channels through which social capital is converted into health improvements.
我们检验了以自我报告的信任来衡量的社会资本在决定撒哈拉以南非洲地区基本医疗设施可及性方面的因果作用。为避免社会资本与基本医疗之间的反向因果关系问题，我们依赖工具变量（IV）估计。预计信任度每增加一个标准差，医生旷工率将下降0.22个标准差，等待时间将下降0.31个标准差，贿赂行为将下降0.30个标准差。作为稳健性检验，我们还使用了关于不同健康问题（获得清洁水）的不同数据库。我们发现，信任度每上升一个标准差，获得清洁水的机会将增加0.33个标准差。所考虑的各种公共物品为社会资本转化为健康改善的可能渠道提供了见解。
