Learning (or not) in health seeking behavior: Evidence from rural Tanzania!

Type Journal Article
Title Learning (or not) in health seeking behavior: Evidence from rural Tanzania!
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2009
URL http://www.csae.ox.ac.uk/conferences/2007-EDiA-LaWBiDC/papers/137-Corno.pdf
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to understand the functioning of individuals health seeking behavior. It studies empirically whether patients adjust their health seeking behavior over time, after they gained new information about the quaity of the previous caregiver consulted. In particular, it tests whether patients, who visited an informal (formal) caregiver and remained sick, switch towards formal (informal) clinicians when they fall ill again in the future. I explore whether individuals respond to a failure to cure by changing health provider. Results show that patients who sought health care from a type of practitioner (formal or informal) are more likely to switch towards an alternative type of clinician, when the first one chosen was not effective in curing their disease. These effects are tested using a 4 years panel data from a household survey in Tanzania

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