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Socioeconomic Inequity in Zambian Children's Health Status - Differences Between Rural and Urban Areas

Almqvist, Anna Katarina (2009)
Department of Economics
Abstract
This essay explores whether there is a connection between geographical location and degree of socioeconomic inequity in children’s health status in Zambia. It looks at, to what extent a difference can be seen in the socioeconomic health gap between rural and urban areas and between primarily rural administrative provinces and primarily urban ones. The questions examined here are: 1) Does geographical location have an effect on socioeconomically caused differences in children’s health status? And 2) given that there is a pattern to be found, what does it look like? The above questions will be examined using data from the Zambian government’s 2004 Living Conditions Monitoring Survey; the data is analysed with the help of concentration curves... (More)
This essay explores whether there is a connection between geographical location and degree of socioeconomic inequity in children’s health status in Zambia. It looks at, to what extent a difference can be seen in the socioeconomic health gap between rural and urban areas and between primarily rural administrative provinces and primarily urban ones. The questions examined here are: 1) Does geographical location have an effect on socioeconomically caused differences in children’s health status? And 2) given that there is a pattern to be found, what does it look like? The above questions will be examined using data from the Zambian government’s 2004 Living Conditions Monitoring Survey; the data is analysed with the help of concentration curves and concentration indices. The chosen health indicator for this study is presence of stunting among children and socioeconomic status is measured by household consumption. The results indicate that there is a greater degree of pro-rich inequity in urban, compared to in rural, areas. The results are stronger when each child is divided individually, according to rural or urban domicile, than when the division is made by identifying whether the child lives in a predominantly urban or a predominately rural administrative province. However, while
the results are less clear when the data is divided into administrative provinces, the difference still exists. Policymakers in the urban areas of Zambia need to be aware that socioeconomic inequity in children’s health status is a particularly large problem there. The results found in this essay suggest that specific urban policy measures might be needed. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Almqvist, Anna Katarina
supervisor
organization
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
health, Zambia, socioeconomic inequality, Economics, econometrics, economic theory, economic systems, economic policy, Nationalekonomi, ekonometri, ekonomisk teori, ekonomiska system, ekonomisk politik
language
English
id
1848845
date added to LUP
2009-11-16 00:00:00
date last changed
2011-06-01 12:43:57
@misc{1848845,
  abstract     = {{This essay explores whether there is a connection between geographical location and degree of socioeconomic inequity in children’s health status in Zambia. It looks at, to what extent a difference can be seen in the socioeconomic health gap between rural and urban areas and between primarily rural administrative provinces and primarily urban ones. The questions examined here are: 1) Does geographical location have an effect on socioeconomically caused differences in children’s health status? And 2) given that there is a pattern to be found, what does it look like? The above questions will be examined using data from the Zambian government’s 2004 Living Conditions Monitoring Survey; the data is analysed with the help of concentration curves and concentration indices. The chosen health indicator for this study is presence of stunting among children and socioeconomic status is measured by household consumption. The results indicate that there is a greater degree of pro-rich inequity in urban, compared to in rural, areas. The results are stronger when each child is divided individually, according to rural or urban domicile, than when the division is made by identifying whether the child lives in a predominantly urban or a predominately rural administrative province. However, while
the results are less clear when the data is divided into administrative provinces, the difference still exists. Policymakers in the urban areas of Zambia need to be aware that socioeconomic inequity in children’s health status is a particularly large problem there. The results found in this essay suggest that specific urban policy measures might be needed.}},
  author       = {{Almqvist, Anna Katarina}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Socioeconomic Inequity in Zambian Children's Health Status - Differences Between Rural and Urban Areas}},
  year         = {{2009}},
}