TY  - JOUR
AU  - Mocan,H. Naci
AU  - Tekin,Erdal
AU  - Zax,Jeffrey S.
TI  - The Demand for Medical Care in Urban China
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 7673
PY  - 2000
Y2  - April 2000
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7673
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7673.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Naci H. Mocan
Department of Economics
Louisiana State University
2119 Patrick F. Taylor Hall
Baton Rouge, LA 70803-6306
Tel: 225/578-4570
E-Mail: mocan@lsu.edu

Erdal Tekin
Department of Economics
Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
Georgia State University
P.O. Box 3992
Atlanta, GA 30302-3992
Tel: 404/413-0163
Fax: 404/413-0145
E-Mail: tekin@gsu.edu

Jeffrey Zax
Dept. of Economics, UCB 256
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309
E-Mail: jeffrey.zax@colorado.edu
AB  - This is the first paper to investigate the determinants of the demand for medical care in the People's Republic of China. It uses a data set that consists of detailed characteristics of 6407 urban households, a continuous measure of health care spending, and price. A two-part model and a discrete factor model are used in the estimation. Household characteristics and work conditions impact the demand for medical care. Income elasticity is around 0.3, indicating medical care is a necessity. Medical care demand is price inelastic, and price elasticity is larger in absolute value for poorer households.
ER  -