It is often argued that engaging in indoor residual spraying (IRS) in areas with high coverage of mosquito bed nets may discourage net ownership and use. This is just a case of a public program inducing perverse incentives. We analyze new data from a randomized control trial conducted in Eritrea which surprisingly shows the opposite: IRS encouraged net acquisition and use. Our evidence points to the role of imperfect information. The introduction of IRS may have made the problem of malaria more salient, leading to a change in beliefs about its importance and to an increase in private health investments.
Authors
Research Fellow University College London
Pedro is a Professor of Economics at University College London and an economist in the IFS' Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice (cemmap).
Andrea Locatelli
Tewolde Ghebremeskel
Joseph Keating
Working Paper details
- DOI
- 10.1920/wp.cem.2012.1212
- Publisher
- Institute of Fiscal Studies
Suggested citation
Carneiro, P et al. (2012). Do public health interventions crowd out private health investments? Malaria control policies in Eritrea. London: Institute of Fiscal Studies. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/do-public-health-interventions-crowd-out-private-health-investments-malaria-control (accessed: 25 April 2024).
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