Analyzing markets for health workers : insights from labor and health economics
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Date
2014Author
Scott, Anthony
McPake, Barbara
Edoka, Ijeoma P.
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Scott, A., McPake, B. & Edoka, I. (2014) Analyzing markets for health workers : insights from labor and health economics, , , , ,
Abstract
Improving equitable access to quality health services is one of the main pillars of
the World Bank Health, Nutrition, and Population Strategy. The Bank gives high
priority to ensuring equitable and sustainable improvements in health outcomes
with particular attention to enhancing the well-being of the poor and vulnerable
population as part of its primary mission to reduce poverty and promote shared
prosperity across the globe. Within this framework, the Bank supports the aspirations
of developing countries toward universal health coverage as an important
goal that will contribute to each country's
efforts in ensuring inclusive and sustainable
development.
The Bank has identified the inadequate availability of health services and
health workers, especially in rural and remote areas, as well as weak management
and limited incentives-often not linked to performance-as some of the leading
causes of the poor performance of health systems. The Human Resources for
Health (HRH) program at the World Bank has been established to assist countries
to carry out critical upstream analytic work that will inform health policy and
improve the performance of health systems in an equitable and sustainable manner.
The focus of the HRH program is on areas where the World Bank has a
comparative advantage, including labor market analysis, the synergies between
HRH and health financing policies, HRH budget and cost analysis, and assessment
of health worker incentives and evaluation of performance-based pay policies.
This publication is part of the Bank's multiyear program to enhance its
knowledge
of HRH policies. The program's ultimate objective is to strengthen
knowledge and capacity to collect evidence, analyze, and evaluate the effectiveness
of HRH interventions in the context of a country's health system strengthening
strategy. It specifically addresses the theoretical and empirical evidence on
health labor markets in low- and middle-income countries.
Health labor market analysis has much to contribute to resolving globally widespread
HRH problems, and continuing neglect of these problems provides some
explanation for their persistence. Policy makers in countries promulgating or refining
strategies for achieving universal health coverage will find it important to
understand how key elements in their health labor market are likely to interact and
how these interactions could help-or hinder-progress toward universal health
coverage. These interactions are complex and multidimensional, and this publication
highlights some areas where forces in the health labor market matter most.