Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37936

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Start date: 2020Subject: search.filters.subject.SDG-3: Good health and well-being

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Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    A Systematised Review of Policy Responses to Supplier-Induced Demand
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mnguni, Lungelo; Booysen, Frikkie
    Health systems around the world contend with cost containment. As a result, policymakers pay attention to how the use of health services drives health expenditure. The rate of use of health services can increase due to additional demand generated by healthcare providers. Currently, however, research on policy interventions used to address demand created by providers is limited. This paper therefore contributes to the literature by conducting a systematised review of common themes found in the literature on additional demand generated by healthcare providers, known as supplier-induced demand, and the associated policy interventions. Building on 33 papers identified in a 2019 scoping review by Mohammadshahi et al., a systematic search added 86 papers from PubMed and 134 from Scopus. After screening and applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 11 articles were reviewed. This review identified four key themes in the research on supplier-induced demand: Competition, incentives, and responses to health reform, and responses to reimbursement changes. In addition, the study finds the focus areas of policy responses to supplier-induced demand to be the following: Provider payment methods, capacity management, stricter regulation and monitoring of adherence to clinical guidelines, increased reviews by insurers, and health promotion to patients. To allocate resources efficiently and equitably, health system leaders should strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of unintended consequences which stem from expanding access to health services.
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    COVID-19 health related news and sectoral stock returns sensitivity in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Zulu, Sbongiseni Samkelo Falakhe; Alovokpinhou, Sedjro
    The purpose of this study is to analyse the relevance of health news related to Covid-19 on South African sectorial stock returns. This is inspired by the global Covid-19 pandemic in predicting sectorial stock returns. This study examines the estimation of dynamic panel data using a dynamic common correlated effects estimator. It employs two pairwise forecast measures, specifically the Campbell & Thompson (2008) and Clark & West (2007) tests, to address the nested predictive models. Thus, this study begins by analysing the impact of health news relating to Covid-19 when control variables are not considered. This is following by when control variables are incorporated into the model. Lastly, the forecasting power of Models 3 and 4 is evaluated by comparing the two models with historical average or constant returns model (CR), for both with and without control variables. The findings of this study reveals that the model incorporating health news indexes outperforms the constant returns model. This proves that health news is a valuable indicator for predicting stock returns, particularly in the wake of the pandemic, underscoring the importance of monitoring health-related information for investment decisions. This study further finds that considering the "asymmetry" effect and incorporating adjustments for macroeconomic factors enhances the predictive accuracy of the health news-driven model. The outcomes remain consistently strong across both the periods of in-sample and out-of-sample forecasts, demonstrating resilience to outliers and variations. These results have practical significance for a range of stakeholders, encompassing academics, practitioners like rational investors, portfolio managers and policymakers. The practical implications extend to aspects such as managing portfolio risk, realizing diversification advantages and exploring opportunities for the creation of innovative investment instruments within financial markets.
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    The price effects of a hospital merger: a case study of the Mediclinic Southern Africa (Pty) Limited (Mediclinic) and Matlosana Medical Health Services (Pty) Limited (MMHS) merger
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Laurence, Marcelle; Mncube, Liberty
    This study evaluates the assessment conducted in the prohibited Mediclinic Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd and Matlosana Medical Health Services (Pty) Ltd (MMHS) proposed merger. The study employs a qualitative approach, centred on a case study methodology, to assess the theories of harm discussed. It aims to provide insights into the adequacy and outcome of the competition authorities’ assessment drawing comparisons to international literature and policy implications. It uses economic theory to analyse and show the significance of robust and nuanced regulatory frameworks in healthcare merger evaluation.
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    Caregiver capabilities and socio-economic disparities in children’s health-related quality of life
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Turner, Georgia
    This study investigates the relationship between children’s health-related quality of life and the associated contextual factors. Furthermore, this study analyses the socio-economic disparities that exist amongst children and what particular social determinants of health are influencing their health and wellbeing. Using an OLS regression as well as the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition, the results show how children with a lower socio-economic status experience a lower HRQOL as opposed to those with a higher socio-economic status. Furthermore, this paper reports new research on the association of caregiver’s capabilities and children’s HRQOL which represents an important explanation for children’s health-related quality of life. Caregivers’ capabilities are a set of tools that enables parents to manage work, life and parenting effectively. The results provide evidence how important these capabilities are as it contributes to a better health related quality of life in their children. The findings show how a higher socio-economic status is associated with better caregiver capabilities. This is an important finding in the South African context, as exorbitant social inequalities exist, and hence, improving adult capabilities could potentially result in not only aiding to narrow the socio-economic disparity gap, but also improving the overall quality and health of children. This also leads to the premise of a bi-directional association whereby improving caregivers’ socio-economic status may likely also improve their capabilities.
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    Associations between economic preferences and behavioural health intentions among young adults living in an informal settlement
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-03) Andrady, Wayne Jude; Booysen, Frikkie
    The emergence of non-communicable diseases in South Africa, most notably among the urban poor, is resulting in an increased burden of diseases. Since NCDs can develop in distinct periods of the life course, post-adolescence-intentions to engage in health behaviours need to be investigated. Furthermore, there is consistent evidence that health behaviours are associated with economic preferences. Yet, it is unclear whether economic preferences are also associated with behavioural health intentions. Objectives: The study aims to examine how risk-taking and patience are associated with behavioural health intentions among young adults in a poor informal urban settlement in South Africa. The study also explores whether there are gender differences in behavioural health intentions and whether these economic preferences contribute to gender gaps in behavioural health intentions. Data and Methods: The study utilized secondary survey data collected from a sample of 240 young adults using a structured questionnaire. The study collected data on behavioural intentions for seven health- protective and health-harming behaviours. Risk-taking and patience are measured using qualitative, quantitative and combined measures from the Global Preference Survey. Ordered probit and seemingly unrelated regression models were estimated and t-tests were employed to quantify gender gaps, followed by the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis. Findings The study reveals that economic preferences have a moderate association with behavioural health intentions among young adults. However, these results seem contradictory to priori expectations and further research is required. Our findings emphasize the importance of recognizing and addressing the limitations associated with imperfect measures of economic preferences when investigating their association with health behavioural intentions
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    The technical efficiency of country responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
    (niversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-02) Desjardins, Armand; Booysen, Frederik
    The COVID-19 pandemic saw the most comprehensive implementation in history of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions by governments around the world. A better understanding of how efficient these interventions are, especially given their high economic costs to society is pivotal in designing similar policy for future outbreaks of this nature. This research estimates the technical efficiency of country responses to the COVID-19 pandemic using a Stochastic Frontier Analysis model and panel dataset combining indicators from the Our World in Data (OWID), Google Movement Index and World Bank Economic Indicators databases. The SFA regression also corrects for endogeneity in the input variables, as policy stringency tends to be influenced by the number of cases in each country. To do so, the OWID stringency index is used as an instrumental variable for each of the policy inputs to correct for the endogenous relationship between the input and output variables. The study found that the correction of technical efficiency estimates for endogeneity using the xtsfkk routine in Stata was an appropriate estimation strategy. The exogenously and endogenously estimated efficiency scores furthermore differed statistically significantly, with exogenously estimated scores representing overestimates of technical efficiency. Vaccination policies proved to be the most technically efficient channel of prevention followed by stay-at-home restrictions. A second stage OLS regression was used to estimate the effects of selected drivers on the technical efficiency scores computed in the Stage 1 SFA model. Health expenditure as a % of GDP, hospital beds per 1,000 population, and physicians per 1,000 population were all positively related to technical efficiency. Countries with reactive and flexible policy approaches, able to increase policy intensity levels based on COVID-19 waves, were found to obtain higher technical efficiency scores than wealthy countries. Improvements in the level of detail on the drivers of technical efficiency and the adoption of machine learning techniques to estimate efficiency scores are recommended to extend research in this area past its current scope
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    Loss of household income and self- reported health during the covid-19 lockdown in South Africa
    (© University of the Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Pillay, Cayla
    The COVID-19 pandemic struck the world unexpectedly and caused a detrimental economic and health crisis worldwide. Globally, lockdown protocols were implemented to ease the pandemic's initial effects, and South Africa was no exception. This paper provides evidence of the relationship between loss of household income and self-reported health. This study uses a fixed-effects Linear Probability Model (LPM), and the results present a negative relationship between loss of household income and self-reported health. The changes in lockdown levels have no significant effect on loss of income. The outcomes suggest that when income is lost, the health of individuals tends to deteriorate.