DO DIFFERENTIATED WAGES IMPROVE POLYCLINIC PERFORMANCE IN KAZAKHSTAN?

Abstract

This paper evaluates the impacts of a differentiated wage system on polyclinics performance in Kazakhstan. The government introduced this new system in order to improve health care provided by polyclinics. I use data for 259 polyclinics for 2014 and based on their efficiency scores, comparing their performance with polyclinics that did not implement the differentiated payment system. The efficiencies of polyclinics are measured by using Data Envelopment. Analysis (DEA) with bootstrapping method. Inputs in the DEA method are number of physicians and number of nurses. DEA outputs are number of polyclinic visits and number of home visits. Using inputs and outputs I estimate efficiency scores for each polyclinic. After estimating the efficiency score, Tobit regression is used to determine which environmental factors may affect polyclinic performance. The results suggest that on average, wage differentiation has a negative effect on efficiency scores.