Abstract
The aim of the present study is to analyse the spatio-temporal dynamics underlying Spanish pharmaceutical expenditure increases. We suggest alternative ways to resolve the problem of identifying exogenous and endogenous spatial spillover in a seemingly unrelated regression framework, while parametric instability is captured using linear time trends in the coefficients. The results highlight the need of considering these dynamic aspects in the pharmaceutical expenditure analysis.
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Notes
Small area variation analysis is a research tool used by health services researchers to describe how rates of health care use and events vary over well-defined geographic areas.
In order to avoid identification problems in the model we have selected exogenous variables (Manski 1993).
Excluding the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.
Cataluña (1981), Andalucía (1984), Comunidad Valenciana y País Vasco (1987), Galicia y Navarra (1991) and Canarias (1994).
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Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Dr. Fernando López, Polytechnic University of Cartagena, for helpful comments and suggestions on previous versions of this study.
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Lauridsen, J., Sánchez, M.M. & Bech, M. Public pharmaceutical expenditure: identification of spatial effects. J Geogr Syst 12, 175–188 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10109-010-0117-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10109-010-0117-5