ABSTRACT
Using panel data for Chinese provinces between 2003 and 2011, this study applies a two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) and TOBIT modelling to examine the efficiency of the provincial health care system in China and the relationship between efficiency changes and the new health care reform policy. Through the non-parametric DEA method, the study calculates the relative efficiency of the health care system in each province and the dynamic changes in efficiency over time. Then, a constrained TOBIT random effect panel model is used to analyse the factors influencing the efficiency of the health care system at the provincial level and to verify whether the policy dummy variable significantly affects the efficiency scores of the health care system. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of the implications of its findings for future health care reform in China.
