Health Care Workers and Informal Payments

In many developing countries, making informal payments to health care workers is common.  Lewis (2000) estimates the frequency of informal payments in selected Asian and Central/Eastern European countries as: Armenia: 91%; Azerbaijan: 78%; Kyrgyz Republic: 75% Poland: 78%; Russia: 74% Vietnam: 81%; Do these payments work?  Would people be better off if these bribes were made…

Informal Payments in Public Healthcare

Healthcare Europa reports that despite being in a public healthcare system, many physicians receive informal payments to supplement their income. “The top doctors, the ones in managerial positions in hospitals, make 5-10 times their monthly salaries of Euros 1,000 to Euros 2,000 from informal payments. They will also take bribes on any new equipment or…