Beyond medical care: public health insurance, caloric intake, and labor productivity in rural China.
- 1Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Oiwake-cho, Kitashirakawa, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan. [email protected].
- 2Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Oiwake-cho, Kitashirakawa, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan.
Abstract
Background
Research on public health insurance (PHI) and human capital has focused on direct pathways through which increased medical utilization improves human health capital. However, a possible indirect pathway may also exist: PHI may expand the budget for nonmedical expenditures, some of which are important human capital inputs. This study uses the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) to examine whether two empirical associations are consistent with a potential indirect pathway: NRCMS participation is associated with higher individual caloric intake, and caloric intake is associated with subsequent labor productivity.Methods
Using unbalanced panel data from the 2009 and 2011 waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey, we examined two hypotheses: NRCMS participation is associated with higher individual caloric intake, and higher caloric intake is associated with higher productivity, as measured by earnings per working day. We used propensity score matching for the first hypothesis and inverse probability weighting regression for the second hypothesis.Results
NRCMS participation was associated with approximately 294 kcal/day higher caloric intake. A caloric difference of this magnitude was associated with 2.97%-3.91% higher labor productivity in rural China in the late 2000s.Conclusions
These findings suggest that nonmedical consumption may be a relevant pathway linking public health insurance to human capital in low-income rural settings. While causal interpretation remains limited, they underscore the importance of examining the broader human capital implications of health insurance beyond health outcomes.
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BibTeX
@article{han2026beyond,
title = {{Beyond medical care: public health insurance, caloric intake, and labor productivity in rural China.}},
author = {Yunze Han and Kei Kajisa},
journal = {Health economics review},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s13561-026-00833-w},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42900429},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Beyond medical care: public health insurance, caloric intake, and labor productivity in rural China.
AU - Yunze Han
AU - Kei Kajisa
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Health economics review
DO - 10.1186/s13561-026-00833-w
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42900429
AB - Background Research on public health insurance (PHI) and human capital has focused on direct pathways through which increased medical utilization improves human health capital. However, a possible indirect pathway may also exist: PHI may expand the budget for nonmedical expenditures, some of which are important human capital inputs. This study uses the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) to examine whether two empirical associations are consistent with a potential indirect pathway: NRCMS participation is associated with higher individual caloric intake, and caloric intake is associated with subsequent labor productivity.Methods Using unbalanced panel data from the 2009 and 2011 waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey, we examined two hypotheses: NRCMS participation is associated with higher individual caloric intake, and higher caloric intake is associated with higher productivity, as measured by earnings per working day. We used propensity score matching for the first hypothesis and inverse probability weighting regression for the second hypothesis.Results NRCMS participation was associated with approximately 294 kcal/day higher caloric intake. A caloric difference of this magnitude was associated with 2.97%-3.91% higher labor productivity in rural China in the late 2000s.Conclusions These findings suggest that nonmedical consumption may be a relevant pathway linking public health insurance to human capital in low-income rural settings. While causal interpretation remains limited, they underscore the importance of examining the broader human capital implications of health insurance beyond health outcomes.
SN - 2191-1991
ER -