The Interaction Effects of Good Governance and Public Health Expenditure on Children’s Health Status: Quantile Regression for Upper-Middle Income Countries

Background and Aim: Public health expenditures and the quality of governance are among factors affecting the health status of a population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction effects of good governance and public health expenditures on the health status of children in upper-middle income countries. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical applied study was performed using the panel data regression with the fixed effects method and quantile regression for panel data for the years 2000-2017 in 2020. The statistical population was upper-middle income countries, and annual time series data were extracted from the World Bank databases. The models and required tests were determined using the Stata-16 software. Results: The coefficient of good governance variable and the index of interaction effects of good governance and the public health expenditures for the under-five child mortality as the dependent variable were -0.002 and -0.003, and for the infant mortality as dependent variable -0.002 and -0.002, respectively. Also, the coefficient of the index of the interaction effects of good governance and public health expenditures in the quantiles of 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 for the under-five child mortality as the dependent variable were -0.0333, -0.0447 and 0.048, and for the infant mortality as the dependent variable were was -0.044, -0.048 and -0.049, respectively. Conclusion: Improvement of governance indicators will increase the efficiency of public health expenditures and improve the children’s health status. Therefore, in order to improve health status, especially in countries with higher child mortalities, it is recommended to improve good governance, increase public health expenditures and government investment in health infrastructure, as well as increase gross domestic product and women's employment.