TY - JOUR
T1 - Welfare state regimes, infant mortality and life expectancy
T2 - Integrating evidence from East Asia
AU - Chuang, Ying Chih
AU - Chuang, Kun Yang
AU - Chen, You Rong
AU - Shi, Bo Wen
AU - Yang, Tzu Hsuan
PY - 2012/7
Y1 - 2012/7
N2 - Background This longitudinal study builds on the crosssectional work of Karim et al and examines the influence of welfare state regime on population health with a particular focus on East Asian welfare states (eg, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan). Methods Data were extracted from the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development Data Set, World Development Indicators and Asian Development Bank's key indicators from 1980 to 2006. Infant mortalities and life expectancy were used as healthoutcome varables. Thirty-one countries were categorised into six types of welfare regimes: Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, Bismarckian, Southern, Eastern European and East Asian. Mixed models were applied to analyse the data with repeated measurements. Results In keeping with Karim et al, Scandinavian and Eastern European welfare states have lower and higher infant mortalities respectively compared with East Asian welfare states. Eastern European welfare states had a lower life expectancy than East Asian welfare states. Most welfare states had a higher social, health and education expenditure, and higher densities of physicians than East Asian welfare states. Conclusion East Asian welfare states did not have worse health than most welfare states. Future studies should continue to incorporate East Asian countries in the typology of welfare regimes that include more social, economic, political and healthcare system characteristic variables to provide insight on the mechanism by which welfare-state regimes influence population health.
AB - Background This longitudinal study builds on the crosssectional work of Karim et al and examines the influence of welfare state regime on population health with a particular focus on East Asian welfare states (eg, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan). Methods Data were extracted from the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development Data Set, World Development Indicators and Asian Development Bank's key indicators from 1980 to 2006. Infant mortalities and life expectancy were used as healthoutcome varables. Thirty-one countries were categorised into six types of welfare regimes: Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, Bismarckian, Southern, Eastern European and East Asian. Mixed models were applied to analyse the data with repeated measurements. Results In keeping with Karim et al, Scandinavian and Eastern European welfare states have lower and higher infant mortalities respectively compared with East Asian welfare states. Eastern European welfare states had a lower life expectancy than East Asian welfare states. Most welfare states had a higher social, health and education expenditure, and higher densities of physicians than East Asian welfare states. Conclusion East Asian welfare states did not have worse health than most welfare states. Future studies should continue to incorporate East Asian countries in the typology of welfare regimes that include more social, economic, political and healthcare system characteristic variables to provide insight on the mechanism by which welfare-state regimes influence population health.
KW - welfare reform
KW - infant mortality
KW - Life Expectancy
KW - welfare reform
KW - infant mortality
KW - Life Expectancy
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U2 - 10.1136/jech.2010.126961
DO - 10.1136/jech.2010.126961
M3 - Article
C2 - 21880645
AN - SCOPUS:84864011057
SN - 0143-005X
VL - 66
JO - Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
JF - Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
IS - 7
M1 - e23
ER -