Household Health Expenditure in Mexico and its Relation with Resource Availability, Remittances and Intra-household Allocation

This study analyzes the effect that the availability of resources and remittances have on household healthcare expenditure, as well as its intra-household allocation, a topic that has barely been explored in the case of Mexico. Using a Tobit model and GLS, we find that health is a luxury good, with an expenditure elasticity useful for social valuation close to 2.0, and another useful for private investment of 1.24. In contrast to institutional transfers, which proved not significant, remittances show an additional effect for the population lacking labor or social security. Significant gender differences are also found for certain age groups.