Essays on the Economics of Global Health

Abstract

The dissertation explores the microeconomics of health in developing countries, focusing on the critical role that improving global health has in achieving economic development. First, I explore the political economy of health epidemics. Taking as example the 2014 West Africa Ebola Outbreak in Liberia, I study how political motives drive the allocation of public resources, and how the misallocation of these resources is costly for citizens’ welfare. Second, I explore how booms in natural resources benefit or harm the health of local communities. In the context of minerals’ production in Brazil, I study the mechanisms of the impacts on birth outcomes, in light of the standard trade-off between the benefits - more wealth from taxes and job opportunities - and costs - corruption or pollution - of natural resources. Third, I explore individual health-seeking behavior. As part of a larger randomized controlled trial which studies how targeted subsidies for antimalarial drugs (to positive individuals) can improve adherence to malaria testing in Kenya, I investigate whether beliefs play a role in explaining how individuals decide to test and treat for malaria.