Background: Emerging countries continue to suffer gravely from insufficient healthcare funding, which adversely affects access to quality healthcare and ultimately the health status of citizens. By using panel data from the World Development Indicators, the study examined the determinants of health care expenditure among twenty-two (22) emerging countries from the year 2000 to 2018.Methods: The study employed cross-section dependence and homogeneity tests to confirm cross-sectional dependence and to deal with homogeneity issues. The Quantile regression technique is employed to test for the relationship between private and public health care expenses and its determinants. The Pooled mean group causality test is used to examine the causal connections among the variables.Results: The outcome of the quantile regression test revealed that economic growth and aging population could induce healthcare costs in emerging countries. However, the impact of industrialization, agricultural activities, and technological advancement on health expenses are found to be noticeably heterogeneous at the various quantile levels. Unidirectional causality was found between industrialization and public health expenses; whereas two-way causal influence was reveled amongst public health expenditure and GDP per capita; public health expenditure and agricultural activities.Conclusion: It is therefore suggested that effective and integrated strategies should be considered by industries and agricultural sectors to help reduce preventable diseases that will ultimately reduce healthcare costs among the emerging countries.

The progress of healthcare expenses is a striking issue for emerging nations. This is because an uncontrolled increase in healthcare expenses can push the nations to extreme poverty. The study examined the association between public health costs and macro-economic indicators within the emerging economies. Data for the study is extracted from the World Bank World Development Indicators for twenty-one (21) emerging countries spanning from 2000 to 2018. The generalized method of moments (GMM) and the Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality test are employed in the analysis of the study. The main findings of the study demonstrate that tax revenue and labor force participation increase public health expenses and inflation, on the other hand, showed a declining relationship. The study further reveals a u-shaped association between public health expenditure and economic growth. The interactive term between research and development and mortality rate of non-communicable diseases, reveal an increasing relationship. The study establishes that, among all the three models estimated, tax revenue, labor force participation and GDP per capita have positive effects on public health costs. Based on the findings, the study recommends governments to embark on policies that improve economic growth and tax revenue as well as stabilizing inflation. These strategic policies could boost public healthcare expenditure since it has a strong association with macroeconomic indicators.

Numerous factors, including inefficient utilization of healthcare resources have been attributed to the poor health outcome. The study aims to compare the efficiency of health expenses and its determining factors in the emerging economies based on their income levels. Data for the study is extracted from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators for 21 countries covering the period of 2000 to 2018. Analysis of the research involves two stages. Stage one computes the efficiency scores, whereas second stage examines factors affecting health efficiency by employing the Tobit regression and Simar-Wilson regression test to confirm the results. The Tobit result shows that research and development (R&D) and physicians enhanced health efficiency at the main panel, lower-middle-income, upper-middle-income, and high-income countries. Corruption remained negative with education showing mixed results. The interaction between research and development and physicians increases health efficiency in all the panels. Health research must be a policy focus if efficiency is to be achieved by the emerging economies.