关键词: 医疗保健, 面板数据模型, 非参数估计, 恩格尔曲线, 边际影响, 支出弹性

Abstract: In this paper the nonparametric Engle curve model on the health care consumption of China’s urban and rural residents is provided, from which the health care Engle curves, the marginal effects of the total expenditure on the health care consumption share, and the health care expenditure elasticity of China’s urban and rural residents are nonparametrically estimated with the panel data of 30 provinces from 1991 to 2005. The empirical analysis shows that the difference between urban and rural health care consumption is blame for the great difference between the income or total expenditure of the urban and that of the rural inhabitants and the deficiency of health care in rural China. A necessary step to decrease the difference in health care is to lift the income and consumption level for the rural inhabitants and provide the rural with adequate and available health care.

Key words: health care, panel data model, nonparametric estimation, Engle curve, marginal effect, expenditure elasticity.