Access to health care and rural worker productivity

Access to health care and worker productivity is examined using US county data with a focus on rural-urban differences. Using an embedded variable approach framework, access to health care indirectly affects worker productivity through health outcomes. The data support the central hypothesis, and the access-productivity relationship is strongest in metro areas. Results suggest that a 1% increase in the number of physicians per 100,000 persons in the region could result in an increase in earnings per worker of between $68.21 and $81.10, depending on the measure of health. The increase for metro areas, however, is nearly 10 times higher than for nonmetro areas.

Automated summary

This study examines the relationship between access to health care and worker productivity using US county data, with a focus on rural-urban differences. The findings suggest that access to health care indirectly affects worker productivity through health outcomes, and this relationship is strongest in metropolitan areas. The results show that a 1% increase in the number of physicians per 100,000 persons in the region could lead to an increase in earnings per worker of between $68.21 and $81.10, depending on the measure of health. However, the impact is nearly 10 times higher in metropolitan areas compared to nonmetropolitan areas.