Narrow Your Choices

Refine By Countries

Refine By Series

Refine By Language

Refine By Date

—

Refine By IMF Taxonomy

Refine By JEL Taxonomy

Refine by LOC Taxonomy

Refine By THEMA Taxonomy

  • Print
  • Save

Social Science > Demography

You are looking at 1 - 10 of 17 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • Analysis of Health Care Markets x
Clear All Modify Search
Cover Selected Issues Papers
The Fiscal Cost of Aging in Belgium: Pensions and Healthcare
Mr. Jean-Jacques Hallaert
Belgium faces a fiscal consolidation challenge at a time when the fiscal cost of aging—primarily related to pension and health outlays—is mounting. Pension spending will increase relatively fast unless a combination of measures related to pension generosity and retirement eligibility are put in place. Potential efficiency gains are large in the health sector and could absorb part of the fiscal and reorganization costs related to an aging population.
Keywords:
Belgium; Aging; Fiscal cost of aging; Pensions; Healthcare; reorganization cost; cost of aging; cost pressure; fiscal cost; healthcare cost; Pension spending; Europe; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Assessing the Impact of Business Closures on COVID-19 Outcomes
Xuequan Elsie Peng
and
Chima Simpson-Bell
In this paper, we present a framework for assessing the effectiveness of different business closure policies, using New York City as a case study. Business closure policies have been widely implemented in an attempt to slow down the pandemic, but it is difficult to measure the contribution of closures of specific industries to virus transmission. Our framework allows us to estimate the impact of specific industry closures on the spread of COVID-19 via their effects on aggregate mobility. We find that early reopening led to a prolonged pandemic and a large case surge in the second wave during 2020, though the reopening allowed the city to regain its economic function as a consumption hub. An alternative policy that extends the lockdown is found to be more cost-effective as it makes future traveling safer and prevents the economy from relapsing into a more stringent policy regime.
Keywords:
business closure policy; industry contribution; Policy impact summary; industry closure; Policy timeline; IMF working papers; data construction; COVID-19; Consumption; Capacity utilization; North America; closure policy; destination industry; lockdown policy; cases data; Health care
Cover IMF Working Papers
A Global Strategy to Manage the Long-Term Risks of COVID-19
Ruchir Agarwal
,
Ms. Gita Gopinath
,
Jeremy Farrar
,
Richard Hatchett
, and
Peter Sands
The pandemic is not over, and the health and economic losses continue to grow. It is now evident that COVID-19 will be with us for the long term, and there are very different scenarios for how it could evolve, from a mild endemic scenario to a dangerous variant scenario. This realization calls for a new strategy that manages both the uncertainty and the long-term risks of COVID-19. There are four key policy implications of such as strategy. First, we need to achieve equitable access beyond vaccines to encompass a comprehensive toolkit. Second, we must monitor the evolving virus and dynamically upgrade the toolkit. Third, we must transition from the acute response to a sustainable strategy toward COVID-19, balanced and integrated with other health and social priorities. Fourth, we need a unified risk-mitigation approach to future infectious disease threats beyond COVID-19. Infectious diseases with pandemic potential are a threat to global economic and health security. The international community should recognize that its pandemic financing addresses a systemic risk to the global economy, not just the development need of a particular country. Accordingly, it should allocate additional funding to fight pandemics and strengthen health systems both domestically and overseas. This will require about $15 billion in grants this year and $10 billion annually after that.
Keywords:
COVID-19; pandemics; systemic risks; economic crisis; toolkit approach; policy implication; pandemic financing; omicron scenario; risks of COVID-19; COVID-19; Communicable diseases; Health care; Global
Cover Finance & Development
Finance and Development, December 2021
International Monetary Fund. Communications Department
Finance and Development, December 2021
Keywords:
vaccine hesitancy; vaccination rate; pandemic preparedness; HPV vaccine; pandemic policy; COVID-19; Health care; Communicable diseases; Global; Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; Central America; North America
Cover IMF Working Papers
State-Level Health and Economic Impact of COVID-19 in India
Mr. Pragyan Deb
and
Ms. TengTeng Xu
The health and economic impacts of COVID-19 on India have been substantial, with wide variation across states and union territories. This paper quantifies the impact of containment measures and voluntary social distancing on both the spread of the virus and the economy at the state level during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We construct a de-facto measure of state-level social distancing, combining containment strigency and observed mobility trends. State-level empirical analysis suggests that social distancing and containment measures effectively reduced case numbers, but came with high economic costs. State characteristics, such as health care infrastructure and the share of services in the economy, played an important role in shaping the health and economic outcomes, highlighting the importance of adequate social spending, health care infrastructure, and social safety nets.
Keywords:
India; COVID-19; social distancing; containment measures.; containment measure; State characteristic; B. aggregate Results; health outcome; containment strigency; Infrastructure; Health care
Cover IMF Working Papers
Health Spending in Japan: Macro-Fiscal Implications and Reform Options
Mr. Masahiro Nozaki
,
Kenichiro Kashiwase
, and
Ikuo Saito
Health spending has risen rapidly in Japan. We find two-thirds of the spending increase over 1990–2011 resulted from ageing, and the rest from excess cost growth. The spending level will rise further: ageing alone will raise it by 3½ percentage points of GDP over 2010–30, and excess cost growth at the rate observed over 1990–2011 will lead to an additional increase of 2–3 percentage points of GDP. This will require a sizable increase in government transfers. Japan can introduce micro- and macro-reforms to contain health spending, and financing options should be designed to enhance equity.
Keywords:
WP; cost growth; cost; profile shift; Japan; health spending; long-term care; fiscal policy; spending ratio; health status; health outcome; spending data; health system; spending increase; copayment rate; health risk; budget target; LTC spending; health spending growth; Health care spending; Aging; Health care; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Inclusive Growth: An Application of the Social Opportunity Function to Selected African Countries
Mr. Olumuyiwa S Adedeji
,
Huancheng Du
, and
Mr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari
The inclusiveness of growth depends on the extent of access to economic and social opportunities. This paper applies the concept of social opportunity function to ascertain the inclusiveness of growth episodes in selected African countries. Premised on the concept of social welfare function, inclusive growth is associated with increased average opportunities available to the population and improvement in their distribution. The paper establishes that the high growth episodes in the last decade in the selected countries came with increased average opportunities in education and health; but distribution of such opportunities varied across countries, depending on the country-specific policies underpining the growth episodes.
Keywords:
WP; opportunity curve; mortality rate; secondary education; Inclusive growth; social opportunity curve; equity; primary school education; completion rate; education enrollment; enrollment rate; Health care; Global
Cover The Economics of Public Health Care Reform in Advanced and Emerging Economies
The Economics of Public Health Care Reform in Advanced and Emerging Economies
Mr. David Coady
,
Mr. Benedict J. Clements
, and
Mr. Sanjeev Gupta

Abstract

Using cross-country analysis and case studies, this book provides new insights and potential policy responses for the key fiscal policy challenges that both advanced and emerging economies will be facing.

Keywords:
BOOK; spending; health system; health outcome; cost; EAP country; health spending; OECD health data; Health care spending; Health care; Insurance; Global; Asia and Pacific; Europe; East Asia; Africa; system efficiency; Caribbean
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Republic of Tajikistan: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
International Monetary Fund
The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper discusses socioeconomic development in the Republic of Tajikistan. Although poverty reduction in rural areas is proceeding at a faster pace than in urban areas, poverty continues to be a predominantly rural phenomenon. In addition to improving the gender equality situation, there are still pressing issues related to equal access for men and women to education and land use, to the decision-making process, and to employment.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; local government; financial support; poverty rate; State budget; management system; Republic of Tajikistan government; State policy measure; Health care; Global; Central Asia
Cover IMF Working Papers
Universal Health Care 101: Lessons for the Eastern Caribbean and Beyond
Ms. Evridiki Tsounta
Despite the increasing interest in universal health care, little is known about the optimal way to finance, design, and implement it. This paper attempts to fill this gap by providing some general policy recommendations on this important issue. While most of the paper addresses the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) countries, its policy implications are applicable to any country. The paper finds that the best financing option is country-specific depending on a country’s economic, cultural, institutional, demographic and epidemiological characteristics, as well as political economy considerations. However, taxation should be the primary financing source. It also concludes that an appropriate and realistic benefit package would need to be designed to ensure the system’s financial viability. Regarding the optimal way to implement universal health care, certain preconditions are needed, including sound public administration, a small informal economy, and a transparent health financing system that builds social consensus.
Keywords:
WP; health cost; health system; government Health spending; health financing goal; country authorities; Health economics; government expenditure; financing system; health financing; ECCU country; ECCU health system; health card; health outcome; health system attainment; health affair; health system performance; Health care spending; Health care; Social security contributions; Aging; Caribbean