Production of child health in Colombia: An approach

This paper achieves a national approach to the main factors that influence the child health production, as well as the determinants of the demand for health inputs in Colombia. Data was taken form the National Health and Demographic Survey 2005. In order to correct endogeneity problems in the inputs, the empiric analysis uses instrumental variables, and the estimation was done in two non-linear stages. In general, it was found that the long term health status for children, measured as z-score, is determined by: a) preventive care during pregnancy, b) availability of household resources and, c) child characteristics, such as age and gender.