The Effects of Fiscal Decentralization on Health Care in China

From my analysis, I conclude that decentralization has not been detrimental to health care when health care performance is measured by the number of doctors per 10,000 people, mortality rates, and local health care expenditure. However, the effects of decentralization on health care are inconclusive when health care performance is measured by the number of hospital beds per 10,000 people. This paper is divided into five sections. The first section discusses theories of federalism. The second section presents an overview of China’s economic reforms since 1980. The third section discusses the current state of health care in China and its supposed relationship to fiscal decentralization. The fourth section discusses the data, the variables, and the model I use to measure the effects of decentralization on health care. The fifth section discusses the results of my empirical analysis