William Jack

By international standards, health workers in Ethiopia are in short supply. In addition, those who do enter the health fields and remain in the country disproportionately live and work in the capital, Addis Ababa. This paper uses detailed data gathered from nearly 1,000 health workers to examine the incentives and constraints that health workers face when choosing where to work, the likely responses of workers to alternative incentive packages, and the longer term performance of the health worker labour market. This working paper was produced as part of the World Bank's Africa Region Health Systems for Outcomes (HSO) Program. The Programme funded by the World Bank, the Government of Norway, the Government of the United Kingdom and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), focuses on strengthening health systems in Africa to reach the poor and achieve tangible results related to Health, Nutrition and Population. The main pillars and focus of the program center on knowledge and capacity building related to Human Resources for Health, Health Financing, Pharmaceuticals, Governance and Service Delivery, and Infrastructure and ICT.

Health indicators in developing countries have shown significant improvement in the last 50 years. People are living longer, fewer children and their mothers die in childbirth, and many diseases have been controlled and some eliminated. However, the health status of individuals in these countries remains below its potential level, and many people lack access to suitable health care and health-promoting services. There is still much to be achieved in the promotion of health care and well-being of individuals in the developing world. In recent years, the efficient and equitable provision of health care has been at the center of public debate. Many developing countries have adopted health sector reforms and implemented new health policies and programs. This book provides an economic framework that will foster an understanding of the allocation of broadly defined health care resources and aid the design and analysis of policies that affect health care outcomes. It provides a modern treatment of health economics for developing as well as industrial countries. It addresses both positive and normative issues in the economics of health care and insurance.