Universal Health Care and Informal Labor Markets : The Case of Thailand
This paper explores the possibility that universal health coverage may inadvertently result in distorted labor market choices, with workers preferring informal employment over formal employment, leading to negative effects on investment and growth,...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/07/16459393/universal-health-care-informal-labor-markets-case-thailand http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11940 |
| Summary: | This paper explores the possibility that
universal health coverage may inadvertently result in
distorted labor market choices, with workers preferring
informal employment over formal employment, leading to
negative effects on investment and growth, as well as
reduced protection against non-health risks and the income
risks associated with ill health. It explores this
hypothesis in the context of the Thai universal coverage
scheme, which was rolled out in four waves over a 12-month
period starting in April 2001. It identifies the effects of
universal coverage through the staggered rollout, and gains
statistical power by using no less than 68 consecutive labor
force surveys, each containing an average of 62,000
respondents. The analysis finds that universal coverage
appears to have encouraged employment especially among
married women, to have reduced formal-sector employment
among married men but not among other groups, and to have
increased informal-sector employment especially among
married women. The largest positive informal-sector
employment effects are found in the agricultural sector. |
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