The Role of Wages and Per Capita Health Expenditure on the Migration of Health Care Workers from Developing Countries
Abstract
An increasing amount of OECD countries are becoming reliant on immigration as a means of dealing with shortages of health care professionals. The affect of out-migration, especially in the continent of Africa where resources are extremely low, is becoming more concerning. This paper will examine the role of wages and per capita health expenditure in the migration decision and discuss the effects of changes in both variables on the density of health care professionals. We will also discuss the supply-side can do to limit the out-migration of physicians and nurses. This paper will use wage and health expenditure differentials in the health care sector between source and destination countries (adjusted for PPP) to test the hypothesis that higher wages and health expenditure per capita lead to a larger density of health care professionals in a given country. Data is also presented on other important factors affecting migration. There exists a surprisingly lower correlation between wages and density than with per capita health expenditure and density. This is the direct implication of the wage differentials between developing and OECD countries being so large that a small increase in wages in the native country are not likely to affect the decision of the health care worker.
1.0 Introduction
According to the WHO (2011) there are currently 60 million health workers worldwide, a density of 86 per 10,000 people. The WHO (2010) defines health workers as ones currently in employment, which excludes émigrés who no longer practice their profession. Health workers are considered as individuals whose intentions are to enhance the health of another person or of a system. They include professions such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and laboratory technicians. Support workers, volunteers and management roles such as hospital managers, financial officers, cooks, drivers and cleaners are also included.
In 2000, according to a study by the United Nations, 175
An increasing amount of OECD countries are becoming reliant on immigration as a means of dealing with shortages of health care professionals. The affect of out-migration, especially in the continent of Africa where resources are extremely low, is becoming more concerning. This paper will examine the role of wages and per capita health expenditure in the migration decision and discuss the effects of changes in both variables on the density of health care professionals. We will also discuss the supply-side can do to limit the out-migration of physicians and nurses. This paper will use wage and health expenditure differentials in the health care sector between source and destination countries (adjusted for PPP) to test the hypothesis that higher wages and health expenditure per capita lead to a larger density of health care professionals in a given country. Data is also presented on other important factors affecting migration. There exists a surprisingly lower correlation between wages and density than with per capita health expenditure and density. This is the direct implication of the wage differentials between developing and OECD countries being so large that a small increase in wages in the native country are not likely to affect the decision of the health care worker.
1.0 Introduction
According to the WHO (2011) there are currently 60 million health workers worldwide, a density of 86 per 10,000 people. The WHO (2010) defines health workers as ones currently in employment, which excludes émigrés who no longer practice their profession. Health workers are considered as individuals whose intentions are to enhance the health of another person or of a system. They include professions such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and laboratory technicians. Support workers, volunteers and management roles such as hospital managers, financial officers, cooks, drivers and cleaners are also included.
In 2000, according to a study by the United Nations, 175
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