Analyses of health and health related policies in Turkey

Abstract

This thesis investigates inequalities in health and fertility and the impact of health and fertility related policies in Turkey. Consisting of four empirical studies; (i) analysing socioeconomic variations over time, (ii) analysing regional variations, (iii) examining the effects of healthcare reform, and (iv) examining the impacts of compulsory schooling; the research employs econometric methods for a range of health and fertility indicators. The studies apply a range of measurements and econometric techniques including, Concentration Indices, Decomposition of Concentration Indices, Oaxaca-Blinder Decomposition, Recentered Influence Function Regression Decomposition, difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity design and instrumental variables using the data from the Turkish Demographic and Health Survey. The thesis reveals that women with lower socioeconomic status have relatively higher number of children and child mortality. Contrastingly, they have relatively lower abortion and contraception. In addition, income related inequalities in child mortality have increased over time while the inequalities in abortion and contraception have decreased. Also wealth, age and education are associated with inequalities in health, while living in the developed parts of Turkey is also influential for inequalities in fertility. Results suggest that western Turkey has pro-rich inequalities in obesity, similar to developed countries, while eastern Turkey exhibits pro-poor inequalities, similar to developing countries. Age, education and iv ethnicity are associated with the obesity gap between developed (western) and developing (eastern) parts of Turkey while wealth and ethnicity account for the income related obesity inequalities between these regions. Additionally, it is found that extended access to healthcare reduces child mortality and the number of children in the developing part of Turkey. On the contrary, the policies extending access are almost ineffective in the developed part. Finally, it is discovered that the extension of compulsory schooling not only leads to improvements in selected educational indicators; but also reduces the number of children and child mortality.