Changing public policy on expenditure in Namibia after independence and its impact on healthcare and education
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Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Public Policy
Abstract
In this paper, we examined whether changes in fiscal measures
through increasing government expenditure on education and healthcare
services adopted after independence has made significant impact on the welfare
of the Namibian people. Time series data from Ministry of Finance, Ministry of
Education of Government of Namibia, Namibia Statistics Agency and World
Bank during the period between 1980 and 2015 has been used for the purpose
of analysis. A comparison of growth in such expenditures, GDP and other
human development indicators has been made between the pre- and
post-independence periods. Finally, impacts of changes in healthcare and
education expenditure on reduction in mortality, increase in life expectancy at
birth, rising literacy and growth of people acquiring higher/technical education,
etc. have been examined by using regression analysis. It is revealed that the
Namibian people are better off now as compared to the pre-independence era.
However, policy changes adopted at the time of independence has not been
highly successful in transforming life of the Namibian people as expected.
There are still a lot of scopes for the improvement of fiscal management in the
country.
Description
Keywords
fiscal policy, public expenditure, development, Namibia
Citation
De, U. K., & Shafuda, C. P. (2021). Changing public policy on expenditure in Namibia after independence and its impact on healthcare and education. International Journal of Public Policy, 15(5-6), 358-379.