Dynamic health care decisions and child health in South Africa

Abstract

A large number of child deaths in developing countries could be averted if ill children received care sooner rather than later. However, analysis in these developing countries rarely considers the pathway, through which, health care is sought at the household level. This paper considers two separate pathways of health-seeking decisions and finds that household controls affect decisions in different ways across the pathway; for example, different measures of female empowerment increase treatment, as well as preferences for private care along the pathway, but not consistently.