Abstract
Building on the social science literature, we hypothesized that population health indicators in wealthy industrialized countries are 'clustered' around welfare state regime types. We tested this hypothesis during a period of welfare state expansion from 1960 to 1994. We categorized data from 19 wealthy countries into 4 different types of welfare state regimes (Social Democratic, Christian Democratic, Liberal and Wage Earner Welfare States). Outcome variables were the infant mortality rate (IMR) and the low birth weight rate (LBW), obtained from the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Health Data 2000 and from the United Nations Common Statistical Database (UNCSD). A two-level multilevel model was constructed, and fixed effects of welfare state were tested. Through the 39 years analyzed, Social Democratic countries exhibited a significantly better population health status, i.e., lower infant mortality rate and low birth weight rate, compared to other countries. Twenty percent of the difference in infant mortality rate among countries could be explained by the type of welfare state, and about 10% for low birth weight rate. The gap between Social Democracies and other countries widened over the 1990s. Our results confirm that countries exhibit distinctive levels of population health by welfare regime types even when adjusted by the level of economic development (GDP per capita) and intra-country correlations. It implies that countries, as groups, adopt similar policies or through any other ways, achieve similar level of health status. Proposed mechanisms of such process and suggestions for future research directions are presented in the discussion.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 328-339 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Health Policy |
| Volume | 80 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2007 Feb 1 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Infant mortality rate
- Low birth weight rate
- Neo-liberal reform
- Welfare state
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health Policy
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Cite this
Welfare state matters : A typological multilevel analysis of wealthy countries. / Chung, Haejoo; Muntaner, Carles.
In: Health Policy, Vol. 80, No. 2, 01.02.2007, p. 328-339.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Welfare state matters
T2 - A typological multilevel analysis of wealthy countries
AU - Chung, Haejoo
AU - Muntaner, Carles
PY - 2007/2/1
Y1 - 2007/2/1
N2 - Building on the social science literature, we hypothesized that population health indicators in wealthy industrialized countries are 'clustered' around welfare state regime types. We tested this hypothesis during a period of welfare state expansion from 1960 to 1994. We categorized data from 19 wealthy countries into 4 different types of welfare state regimes (Social Democratic, Christian Democratic, Liberal and Wage Earner Welfare States). Outcome variables were the infant mortality rate (IMR) and the low birth weight rate (LBW), obtained from the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Health Data 2000 and from the United Nations Common Statistical Database (UNCSD). A two-level multilevel model was constructed, and fixed effects of welfare state were tested. Through the 39 years analyzed, Social Democratic countries exhibited a significantly better population health status, i.e., lower infant mortality rate and low birth weight rate, compared to other countries. Twenty percent of the difference in infant mortality rate among countries could be explained by the type of welfare state, and about 10% for low birth weight rate. The gap between Social Democracies and other countries widened over the 1990s. Our results confirm that countries exhibit distinctive levels of population health by welfare regime types even when adjusted by the level of economic development (GDP per capita) and intra-country correlations. It implies that countries, as groups, adopt similar policies or through any other ways, achieve similar level of health status. Proposed mechanisms of such process and suggestions for future research directions are presented in the discussion.
AB - Building on the social science literature, we hypothesized that population health indicators in wealthy industrialized countries are 'clustered' around welfare state regime types. We tested this hypothesis during a period of welfare state expansion from 1960 to 1994. We categorized data from 19 wealthy countries into 4 different types of welfare state regimes (Social Democratic, Christian Democratic, Liberal and Wage Earner Welfare States). Outcome variables were the infant mortality rate (IMR) and the low birth weight rate (LBW), obtained from the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Health Data 2000 and from the United Nations Common Statistical Database (UNCSD). A two-level multilevel model was constructed, and fixed effects of welfare state were tested. Through the 39 years analyzed, Social Democratic countries exhibited a significantly better population health status, i.e., lower infant mortality rate and low birth weight rate, compared to other countries. Twenty percent of the difference in infant mortality rate among countries could be explained by the type of welfare state, and about 10% for low birth weight rate. The gap between Social Democracies and other countries widened over the 1990s. Our results confirm that countries exhibit distinctive levels of population health by welfare regime types even when adjusted by the level of economic development (GDP per capita) and intra-country correlations. It implies that countries, as groups, adopt similar policies or through any other ways, achieve similar level of health status. Proposed mechanisms of such process and suggestions for future research directions are presented in the discussion.
KW - Infant mortality rate
KW - Low birth weight rate
KW - Neo-liberal reform
KW - Welfare state
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33845532067&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33845532067&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.healthpol.2006.03.004
DO - 10.1016/j.healthpol.2006.03.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 16678294
AN - SCOPUS:33845532067
VL - 80
SP - 328
EP - 339
JO - Health Policy
JF - Health Policy
SN - 0168-8510
IS - 2
ER -