Access to healthcare, utilization and health outcomes in Turkey

Abstract EN

This paper examines the link between healthcare access/utilization and health outcomes in Turkey within a spatial framework.

Our initial set of findings highlight an overall duality in health indicators which is getting stronger once spatial dimension is included.

Specifically we find wider spatial dichotomy for health outcomes relative to access and utilization measures.

Finally once we consider unobserved heterogeneity, spatial spillovers and spatial variability; our results pin point a non-robust link between healthcare access/utilization measures and health outcomes which works better among the already developed regions of Turkey.

Overall our combined results indicate an ongoing polarization of health-based human capital development which coincides with local variations of the relationship between healthcare access/utilization and outcomes in Turkey.