| This project combined ethnographic research with statistical analysis to measure the effectiveness of a major health insurance expansion program in India. |
This project augmented a large social experiment in India that seeks to understand the value of health insurance, specifically India’s large public insurance expansion, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY). This experiment used a large scale survey to quantitatively measure the impact of RSBY on self-reported health and financial status, but it did not yet have a qualitative or a significant non-financial component. With support from the Neubauer Collegium, we hoped to accomplish two new goals. First, we combined ethnography with different methodologies to measure a broader range of outcomes and to arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of whether and why health insurance achieves certain impacts. Second, we fostered a dialogue between disciplines about their methodology for information gathering and analysis. Specifically, we hoped economists learn from ethnographers the methodology and interpretation of (open-ended) interviewing and informally observed behaviors. Conversely, we hoped ethnographers will combine their own findings with statistical analysis. We aimed to spark similar methodological dialogues with researchers in psychology and epidemiology. Each methodology has its strengths and weaknesses, but together they can provide a level of understanding of the impacts of health insurance in India that surpasses what any single discipline can achieve.
Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics and in the Department of Social Science; Research Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and at IZA Bonn
University College London
Assistant Professor, Economics; The James L. Paddock Junior Professorship in International Economics
Tufts University
Founder and Director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) in Washington, D.C. and New Delhi; Senior Research Scholar
Princeton University
Lee and Brena Freeman Professor, University of Chicago Law School and Professor, Pritzker School of Medicine
University of Chicago
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A new NBER working paper by the research team reports on key findings from a large-scale study of hospital insurance in India.
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
A new NBER working paper by the research team reports on key findings from a large-scale study of hospital insurance in India.
