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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Health Economics
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1513188
This article is part of the Research Topic Sustainable and Mission-oriented Innovation in Economic Systems and Governance for Equitable Global Health and Wellbeing View all 18 articles

Coupling Coordination Relationship between Health Resource Allocation and Regional Economic Development: An Empirical Study Based on Five Provinces in Eastern China

Provisionally accepted
  • Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Improving system coordination is a pivotal strategy and a critical pathway for social governance. Chinese society is currently facing a significant challenge in aligning the allocation of health resources with economic development. Evaluating the level of coordinated development within the system can provide valuable insights to support the construction of a more coordinated China and foster high-quality development.Methods: Based on a systematically constructed indicator framework, our study selected data from five eastern provinces of China to establish a ten-year panel dataset covering the period from 2011 to 2020. The comprehensive evaluation index and the relative development degree were employed to comprehensively evaluate the development level of the system. The coupling coordination degree model was applied to analyze the coupling coordination relationship and spatiotemporal evolution trend of the two systems. Additionally, the fixed effects model was used to identify the driving factors behind the coordinated development of the two systems.Results: From 2011 to 2020, the comprehensive indices of health resource allocation and economic development in the five eastern provinces of China exhibited a consistent year-on-year increase, and the relative development degree experienced two critical values of 0.8 and 1.2, which changed from the lagging allocation of health resources to the lagging economic development. The system coordination index generally ranged between 0.35 and 0.90, with the coordination phase undergoing a transition from an antagonistic stage to a coordinated stage. The coordination type also gradually shifted from mild imbalance to good coordination. Furthermore, the levels of economic development, economic structure, technological investment, as well as the allocation of health human and material resources, all serve as critical drivers in enhancing the coordinated development of the system.The coordinated development of eastern China's provinces produces substantial spillover effects, and the realization of a Healthy China initiative must strategically harness their radiative and demonstrative effects. Achieving a superior level of coordination requires urgent efforts to rectify the existing deficiencies in the distribution of grassroots healthcare resources. Furthermore, cultivating innovative drivers of economic growth and enhancing the capacity for economic support are critical to ensuring high-quality and sustainable development.

    Keywords: Health resource allocation, Economic Development, Coupling coordination degree, Fixed effects model, High-quality development

    Received: 18 Oct 2024; Accepted: 04 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Feng, Chai, Chen, Yang, Li and Mi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Kexuan Chen, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China
    Wei Li, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China
    Yuqing Mi, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China

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